Shadowing Timing

[Deleted member 737595]

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No, not how many hours do I need; I will know what is enough...

I shadowed a surgeon Freshman year for around 30 hours and it was a very meaningful experience and I journaled on it. Will this count or does it have to be recent? My pre-med adviser says the letter from an MD for the committee letter has to be from a recent experience, which is bogus.

 

[Catalystik]

No, not how many hours do I need; I will know what is enough...

I shadowed a surgeon Freshman year for around 30 hours and it was a very meaningful experience and I journaled on it. Will this count or does it have to be recent? My pre-med adviser says the letter from an MD for the committee letter has to be from a recent experience, which is bogus.

Shadowing during freshman year of college counts for med school applications, but wouldn't be considered sufficiently "recent" to make your committee happy. Since 30 hours is below average among med school applicants anyway, bite the bullet and get in another 20-ish hours to beef up your application and to satisfy your committee's requirement. A primary care doctor (office-based providing longitudinal care, like pediatrics, internal med, family med, OBGYN, etc) added to your list would give you a greater appeal to more med schools.

 

[Mwooster]

I shadowed a surgeon Freshman year for around 30 hours and it was a very meaningful experience and I journaled on it.

Get that published ASAP

 

[Deleted member 737595]

Shadowing during freshman year of college counts for med school applications, but wouldn't be considered sufficiently "recent" to make your committee happy. Since 30 hours is below average among med school applicants anyway, bite the bullet and get in another 20-ish hours to beef up your application and to satisfy your committee's requirement. A primary care doctor (office-based providing longitudinal care, like pediatrics, internal med, family med, OBGYN, etc) added to your list would give you a greater appeal to more med schools.

How likely would it be to find a physician to shadow when I start volunteering at an Emergency Department? I know I probably will not be working with doctors directly...

 

[Welshman]

How likely would it be to find a physician to shadow when I start volunteering at an Emergency Department? I know I probably will not be working with doctors directly...

Incredibly easy. The best/easiest way to go about shadowing is to be involved with the hospital already, the next thing to do is find the section of the hospitals website with doctors email addresses (it’s often hard to find, check for research profiles though) and then write a thoughtful but short email that you can blast to physicians in different departments (don’t send the same email to 10 physicians who work with each other). it’s even better if you do research and have an hospital affiliated email address. This should net you at least a couple docs who you can keep networking with to get more.

Alternatively, you can ask the nurses you see everyday in the ED and then network from there.

 

[Catalystik]

How likely would it be to find a physician to shadow when I start volunteering at an Emergency Department? I know I probably will not be working with doctors directly...

People you meet there might know of docs willing to be shadowed. You might also possibly call the surgeon you'd previously observed and ask for a primary care doc referral. Or hit on friends with physician parents, your parents' docs, or even your own from childhood.

Shadowing need not be completed on a regular weekly basis. You could do a ton of hours back home when you've visiting over spring break or a long weekend.

 

[Welshman]

I got 40/50 of my hours the semester before I applied and it hasn’t hurt me in interviews.. I think.....

Something I did to not appear as a burden and increases my chances was to only ask to shadow them for a day. I thought busy docs would be more likely to say yes if they knew up front it was just for a day, rather than a whole week or something. That said a quick way to double up on hours without appearing intruding is to ask to see a clinic day and a procedure day if they do those so you can get “a more complete picture of what they do” 😉

One thing I wouldn’t recommend for your own sanity is doing more than a full day at a specialists office, by colonoscopy 8 you’ve gotten the gist of it

You only need 5 full days to get 40 hours after all

 

[Deleted member 737595]

I got 40/50 of my hours the semester before I applied and it hasn’t hurt me in interviews.. I think.....

Something I did to not appear as a burden and increases my chances was to only ask to shadow them for a day. I thought busy docs would be more likely to say yes if they knew up front it was just for a day, rather than a whole week or something. That said a quick way to double up on hours without appearing intruding is to ask to see a clinic day and a procedure day if they do those so you can get “a more complete picture of what they do” 😉

One thing I wouldn’t recommend for your own sanity is doing more than a full day at a specialists office, by colonoscopy 8 you’ve gotten the gist of it

You only need 5 full days to get 40 hours after all

I will probably do it during a break. Unlike volunteering, where consistency is key, shadowing might even be better to be done 'intensively' so that I can see more fully a day-in-the-life, right?

 

[Welshman]

I will probably do it during a break. Unlike volunteering, where consistency is key, shadowing might even be better to be done 'intensively' so that I can see more fully a day-in-the-life, right?

Yes

 

[ciestar]

I will probably do it during a break. Unlike volunteering, where consistency is key, shadowing might even be better to be done 'intensively' so that I can see more fully a day-in-the-life, right?

It sure gives you perspective.
Try talking to your own doctor. I shadowed my eye doctor like two weeks before i applied.

 

[altblue]

I will probably do it during a break. Unlike volunteering, where consistency is key, shadowing might even be better to be done 'intensively' so that I can see more fully a day-in-the-life, right?

Just make sure you get it lined up as soon as possible

Source: Me scrambling to get to 40 hours before June

 

[Welshman]

Just make sure you get it lined up as soon as possible

Source: Me scrambling to get to 40 hours before June

I did the same thing haha