My father is a general surgeon and it is very easy to just go in and shadow him. Do med schools look down on shadowing a family member?
Shadowing with a family member?
- Thread starter Mystikal
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On SDN, I've seen that it's generally considered to not be a good idea. On the other hand, it should be easy with your dad's contacts to set up someone else you can shadow who doesn't share your same last name.
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Several months to a year ago, there was a discussion on whether you can count interactions with your direct family members as exposure to medicine, "shadowing", clinical exposure, et cetera.
The conclusion that I saw, between a few people with family member physicians and those without, was that it does count and is not devalued. To say that it is not exposure to medicine is quite illogical. I can't imagine having a more intimate exposure to the life of physicians than actually living with them (and of course observing them freely at work).
I suggest that you count it in or make note of it, but at the same time take the opportunity to observe other physicians/surgeons as well --> wider exposure on an already solid base.
The conclusion that I saw, between a few people with family member physicians and those without, was that it does count and is not devalued. To say that it is not exposure to medicine is quite illogical. I can't imagine having a more intimate exposure to the life of physicians than actually living with them (and of course observing them freely at work).
I suggest that you count it in or make note of it, but at the same time take the opportunity to observe other physicians/surgeons as well --> wider exposure on an already solid base.
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I shadowed my dad way back when; I probably also counted those hours.
I did also shadow my dad's partners, so I got different perspectives of the same specialty. My dad was working more in clinic and less in the OR since he had just had surgery, and his partners were in the OR more. My dad also asked some other family friends if I could shadow them in different specialties. All in all, over 1 Christmas break, I shadowed 4 specialties and 5 doctors. I shadowed at other times too when I was at home on vacation.
I did also shadow my dad's partners, so I got different perspectives of the same specialty. My dad was working more in clinic and less in the OR since he had just had surgery, and his partners were in the OR more. My dad also asked some other family friends if I could shadow them in different specialties. All in all, over 1 Christmas break, I shadowed 4 specialties and 5 doctors. I shadowed at other times too when I was at home on vacation.
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The SDN chorus will tell you it is a bad idea, but I think it is a great idea, with the caveat being that you need multiple shadowing experiences, not just one doc.
I have found arranging shadowing opportunities to be one of the most frustrating experiences ever. Your dad should be able to introduce you to others who will happily allow you to shadow, too.
I have found arranging shadowing opportunities to be one of the most frustrating experiences ever. Your dad should be able to introduce you to others who will happily allow you to shadow, too.
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Yes, I am defiinetly planning on shadowing different phsycians in different specialties, however it's just so easy during the breaks or summer when I'm around the house and he asks me to go in with him for a couple hours to watch some surgeries. I'm going to count his hours but i'll probably aim for a LOR from another doctor.
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I figured the LOR issue was behind your question.
No, you would NOT get an LOR from a family member. Worthless.
More importantly, you do NOT need LORs from physicians you shadow. The exceptions are a handful of schools (Univ of Utah comes to mind), and DO schools routinely require letters from DOs.
Otherwise, don't burden the physicians you shadow with an LOR request. Med schools don't care about these letters...
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I've been following my dad around since I was little. I got to work at his office for a while and saw all his patients with him. I think growing up with medicine is a kind of an advantage as well. You get to see what the life of a doctor is day in and day out. You see the political and business side of medicine more than others may. But, I was lucky that my university offered a shadowing class where we had different rotations every week.
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Do some research on the kinds of letters med schools want. Virtually no allo schools want these shadow letters.
Most med schools limit the total number of letters you can submit...letters from physicians you shadowed are superfluous and meaningless...
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I agree with Mobius. My dad is an internist but I did not shadow him at all. They actually asked me why I hadn't at a few interviews and I told them because I know many of his patients personally and didn't want them to feel uncomfortable.
However, like Mob said, you should be able to find a TON of other doctors through him that you could at least ask if you could shadow. My dad gave me the names of 3 or 4 family prac. and internists and they all said they'd be happy to have me.
