Shadowing

[noble fianu]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

is there a thing called “too much shadowing “ because I have 400 shadowing hours with one pediatrician because I knew him anytime I came back from school on vacations i go shadow.

 

[harmony14]

is there a thing called “too much shadowing “ because I have 400 shadowing hours with one pediatrician because I knew him anytime I came back from school on vacations i go shadow.

I don't know about too much shadowing hours but SDN often recommends that 50-100 hours is enough to be competitive. on the other hand, it is also recommended to spread out the fields you shadow because 400 dedicated to one field narrows your experience on what being a doctor is generally like.

 

[gyngyn]

is there a thing called “too much shadowing “ because I have 400 shadowing hours with one pediatrician because I knew him anytime I came back from school on vacations i go shadow.

That would be about two standard deviations from the norm.

 

[Robin-jay]

Nope, stay competitive my friend.

 

[HomeSkool]

At this point, you have more than enough shadowing hours and there may be better ways to spend your time. Is there another spot on your application that could benefit from increased attention?

 

[Catalystik]

it is also recommended to spread out the fields you shadow because 400 dedicated to one field narrows your experience on what being a doctor is generally like.

If all the shadowing is with a primary care specialty that provides long-term care to patients, then one specialty is sufficient.

 

[TypeADissection]

Do you want me to send you a medal? Because 400 hours with a pediatrician sounds like...uh...torture... That's more than you'll do on a clerkship rotation.

 

[tantacles]

is there a thing called “too much shadowing “ because I have 400 shadowing hours with one pediatrician because I knew him anytime I came back from school on vacations i go shadow.

There's no such thing as "too much" shadowing, but I would suggest finding other ways to build your application now that you've done more than enough shadowing. Some research or volunteering would be a great place to start.

 

[hipsnontrad]

Shadowing is more of a passive experience. You don’t do much. Community service or more time studying would be much better for your application. If you have more volunteer time or more patient exposure, than your good. If not I would switch what you do when you are home to something more active. Also variety of physicians is good to have. I would still include all 400 hours on your application. You did put in 10 weeks of full time shadowing. I can’t imagine using that much time myself unless this pediatrician was really good looking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[MyGrainAura]

It’s time to find a new hobby


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Goro]

is there a thing called “too much shadowing “.

Yes.
/thread

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I’m fairly certain gonnif has said before that an extremely large number of shadowing hours might cause concern because it is a passive act you do for yourself and no one else, so why didn’t you spend more of that time in service to others?

 

[Falling Up]

I'd imagine certain Adcoms would take 400 hrs differently than others. But I'd at least shadow two different specialties to get more exposure. In my opinion, 80 hours within two different fields is more valuable than 400 in one.

 

[MonkeyArrow]

Note that when application time comes around, you don’t have to list all 400 hours of shadowing.

 

[aldol16]

No unless you're shadowing at the expense of other ECs. But if you feel like you have a good sense of what it's like to be a pediatrician, that's your cue that you can stop shadowing.