Shadowing Question

[jacksonjob0689]

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I'm fairly certain I want to go into Family Medicine after having shadowed a Family doctor for 100+ hours. Is it necessary to get more experience shadowing other specialties before I apply next cycle or will my lack of shadowing spread handicap my application to top tier schools? Thanks!

 

[vrazzles]

Your shadowing is only one small piece of the picture. You should try to get a little bit more spread. Choosing FM after ONLY shadowing FM does sound rather uninformed.

Your chances at top schools will depend on a lot more than the info you have provided.

 

[ebno]

I've done 60 hours of shadowing in cardiology so far and it would be easy for me to say I want to do cardiology because that's all I've seen and it's been a great experience. However, I know that this is a limited view of medicine and I'll be doing other kinds of shadowing to explore things a bit more.

That being said, 100 hours of shadowing is great. You probably don't have to do more, I would just keep in mind that perspectives change.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm fairly certain I want to go into Family Medicine after having shadowed a Family doctor for 100+ hours. Is it necessary to get more experience shadowing other specialties before I apply next cycle or will my lack of shadowing spread handicap my application to top tier schools?

For med school application purposes, shadowing a primary care physician who provides longitudinal care for 100 hours is more than sufficient (50 would have been adequate). You will have sufficient exposure to other specialties during clerkships in med school in case your current perspective would change.

 

[jg2021]

I'm fairly certain I want to go into Family Medicine after having shadowed a Family doctor for 100+ hours. Is it necessary to get more experience shadowing other specialties before I apply next cycle or will my lack of shadowing spread handicap my application to top tier schools? Thanks!

This is just my opinion, but everything can change in a matter of time no matter how set you may think you are on something. If you haven't shadowed any other specialties you may be missing out on something you totally love 100x more. I don't think it'll negatively impact your app as there are several other factors in admission, however I think its something you should think about just to gain more insight to different areas of medicine.

 

[LizzyM]

I think that the thing that one misses when reading the OP's message is that this was family medicine which combines pediatrics, internal medicine, gynecology (maybe OB), some geriatrics (care of the elderly), perhaps some minor surgery (suturing minor lacerations). It is really an exposure to several specialties in one package. I feel much better about someone who has shadowed family medicine, alone, than someone who has shadowed only cardiologists.

 

[trobinsonmd]

Wrt med school admissions, ad coms prefer 100 hours of FM over 100 hours of something specialized like electrophysiology or radiation oncology.. your decision to go into FM should not solely be based off of your 100 hours, you will be exposed to a lot more stuff in med school and you can change your mind, it is nice to stay open minded. however, for the purposes of getting into a top tier school, you do not really need to do more shadowing. I had <50 hours when I applied and it was all in plastics or NS and I still got into a top ten school, there other factors that carry much more significance when it comes to admissions