Shadowing while Volunteering?

[MrLogan13]

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I have just a little over 100 hours of volunteering at an ER. On pretty much every shift, in addition to my volunteer duties and interacting with patients, I would spend ~40 minutes observing physician-patient interactions and procedures. That comes to about 22 hours of direct observation. Do you guys think it would be kosher to list that as shadowing on AMCAS, separate from my volunteering?

 

[jm192]

Just separate it out.

78 hours volunteering
22 shadowing.

 

[MrLogan13]

Thanks for the response.

 

[LizzyM]

I have just a little over 100 hours of volunteering at an ER. On pretty much every shift, in addition to my volunteer duties and interacting with patients, I would spend ~40 minutes observing physician-patient interactions and procedures. That comes to about 22 hours of direct observation. Do you guys think it would be kosher to list that as shadowing on AMCAS, separate from my volunteering?

From my perspective, that is a snapshot when what you should be aiming for is a feature length film, or a mini-series. 😉 Shadowing a physician for an entire shift, or from start to finish over several days, gives you a better perspective on what a physician does, what proportion of time is spent with patients, with "paperwork" (or electronic medical records and dictation or other documentation for purposes of reimbursement), what proportion of time is spent with administrative tasks related to the practice setting, team meetings to discuss clinical care, and continuing medical education such as grand rounds. How many hours does the doc work without a break? Does the doc stop work long enough to sit down during a meal or are meals caught on the fly or during continuing education activities or meetings? Does the doc work in more than one setting? That's what you should be learning from shadowing, as well as learning how docs interact with patients.

 

[MrLogan13]

Thank you, LizzyM. I was thinking the same thing. I do have more formal shadowing experiences where I spent whole shifts with a physician. I was just wondering whether I could include my informal observations as well. I suppose if those observations do not fit the criteria you laid out, perhaps it is best not to list them as such?

From my perspective, that is a snapshot when what you should be aiming for is a feature length film, or a mini-series. 😉 Shadowing a physician for an entire shift, or from start to finish over several days, gives you a better perspective on what a physician does, what proportion of time is spent with patients, with "paperwork" (or electronic medical records and dictation or other documentation for purposes of reimbursement), what proportion of time is spent with administrative tasks related to the practice setting, team meetings to discuss clinical care, and continuing medical education such as grand rounds. How many hours does the doc work without a break? Does the doc stop work long enough to sit down during a meal or are meals caught on the fly or during continuing education activities or meetings? Does the doc work in more than one setting? That's what you should be learning from shadowing, as well as learning how docs interact with patients.

 

[Annabell Lee]

I agree with LizzyM. It isn't really shadowing, you know? Everyone has seen doctor patient interactions. If you already have real shadowing to put down, you probably shouldn't take away from your volunteer hours to separate them out.

 

[Planes2Doc]

There's nothing wrong with double-dipping. You're definitely getting your moneys worth. 😉 I would list them both separately maximizing the hours for both. If you weren't shadowing during the volunteer time, then you probably would have been sitting around doing nothing. As long as the hours are all verifiable, it's all Kosher.