Shadowing vs. Volunteering

[eatlightningpt3]

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Just wondering which of the two is more important? or if they're equal?

From how I see it, both are giving you a good perspective of what practicing medicine will be like.

I'll probably have 100 hours of volunteering at my local hospital in after this summer. Will it be worth it to find someone to shadow next summer?

 

[KTownGT]

I would say, hour-to-hour, shadowing would be more important. But, a good application would have both shadowing and volunteering-- among other things.

Shadowing is fun too. You basically shut up while in the room with a patient. And ask questions and talk normally when there is down time. Volunteering at hospitals and such seems more like remedial tasks and slave labor.

 

[fish89]

Honey you're on SDN. The answer is both.

 

[LRAccord624]

Quoting Catalystik from the WAMC thread:

In the next year try to get in 60-80 hours of physician shadowing split among 2-3 docs. Hopefully the pediatrician will be one, as adcomms like to see that you had a view of medicine from the trenches.

You already have a year of clinical experience, which is great, so you'll have two years by the time you apply with your new employment. (1.5 years seems about average)

It would be good to have some weekly nonmedical/noncampus community service, ideally for a cause you care about: soup kitchen , food pantry, homeless shelter, crisis hotline, Human Society, Habitat for Humanity, womens shelter, tutoring middle school kids, are examples.

A year of research is about average for applicants. If you aspire to a strong research-oriented med school, then it's best to get more, but for general purposes you're fine.

Teaching and leadership are other desirable activities that are considered to boost your application, as are hobbies, and artistic endeavors.

The MCAT score is the great equalizer, regardless of the school you go to. A high GPA from an unknown school is better than a mediocre GPA from a well-known school.