Should I shadow at my age and if yes, how?

[iluvhoney710]

Currently a junior/grade 11/year 12 with my last known cumulative GPA at 3.68 (unweighted) and I have not take the SAT or the ACT but planning to do so before 2018 ends. (Might I add that my PSAT was no good at all with the score being around 1,100-1,200 so I don't expect my SAT or ACT to be near perfect.)
I wanted to do volunteering at the nearest hospital (because I want to work in the ER) but they declined me for the past couple of years. Do keep in mind that I will try to volunteer for my last year of high school/secondary school but in the adult program (student volunteer goes from freshman to junior for some reason). My friend said that one is easier to get into.
With that being said, I still want to be involved with medicine as much as possible so should I start shadowing physicians now or wait until I'm in college? And if so, how do I do start? If not, what else should I do to keep up with my experiences (besides taking trips to the ER because of accidents haha)?

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[AttemptingScholar]

While you can, you should be aware that high school activities don't go on your med school application. It won't be wasted time in that you'll have learned from it, but it can't go on your app.

 

[deleted480308]

I wouldn’t let a high school kid shadow me. You don’t have enough skin in the game to be scared of messing up hippa or maturity yet for it to matter.

Just enjoy being a kid and get good grades

 

[WhyNeedAName]

With that being said, I still want to be involved with medicine as much as possible so should I start shadowing physicians now or wait until I'm in college? And if so, how do I do start? If not, what else should I do to keep up with my experiences

You can shadow at your age. ER may be a bit much, so try volunteering at a clinic in a low-income neighborhood. I did such and I learned a lot about patient-patient interaction that I wouldn't have learned in the hospital volunteering setting.

 

[DrYoda]

We occasionally have students your age shadow in our ED. Usually it's someone whose parent knows one of the docs. but in general I think my partners and I are all fine with it. The hospital will make you sign some HIPPA paperwork first though. As said above only college activities and up count for med school apps, assuming nothing has changed in the past decade.