Too early to shadow??

[jellyjohn]

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I was wondering if it is ever TOO early to shadow a DO?? I have the opportunity to shadow a DO, however, I'm only in my sophomore year of undergraduate study. Needless to say, my application to med school will be a couple years down the road. With the amount of experience on this board, I was wondering if any of you would consider it wise to build a "shadowing relationship" with this DO (if he is interested) until my (Lord willing) acceptance into a school? Thanks in advance! 🙂

 

[San_Juan_Sun]

Probably not too early at all. It gives you a good opportunity to see if medicine, and being a DO, is right for you. More time with a DO allows him to get to know you better, which is good for LOR purposes. And, you never know what kinds of contacts you can get out of the deal. Say you want to observe some surgery, your DO buddy might be able to help you do that. Just a thought.

In any case, it is SO important to get that LOR early in the application cycle. If you already have a DO ready to write a letter, you'll be that much ahead when the time comes to apply. Good luck.

 

[Fenrezz]

It's NEVER too early to start shadowing a DO. The earlier you start, the better. When it comes down to knowing whether medicine is for you, there is no substititute for experience.

 

[jellyjohn]

Thanks San Juan! I'll try and set things up with him soon. Probably after the holidays if he's busy. As for medicine... I'm positive it's what I am after. I discovered my interest a few semesters ago after taking an EMT certification course. After that I enrolled into a nursing program but discovered that I can and want to do more...thanks again San Juan.

Any other advice is welcome! 🙂 As far as further prep for med school... 😉

 

[jellyjohn]

Gotcha Fenrezz! I'll get on the ball ASAP. Currently I'm a volunteer at the community Hospice and am employed by the county as a paid call firefighter. I've been attempting to get a job as an ER Tech... the admin. nurse there says they're re-working the budget, etc., etc., and to call him up the end of this week but if that doesn't pan out than the ambulance company (heard they are not great employer) will work as well.

Thanks! 🙂

OH! When is it advisable to begin preparing for my MCAT?? And how?? I know I haven't even covered all the subjects to be tested yet...

 

[San_Juan_Sun]

Originally posted by jellyjohn
OH! When is it advisable to begin preparing for my MCAT?? And how?? I know I haven't even covered all the subjects to be tested yet...

Obviously, take the classes first. 🙂 Then depending on your available time, I would in this order:

1. take tons of practice tests
2. review the subjects from a prep guide
3. take a prep course (if you have the time and $$$

I looked at the MCAT as a game. you needed a basic knowledge of general topics, but more importantly, you needed to be able to discern what the question was really asking for. Nothing like practice tests to help you do that.

Heck, I did just fine on the MCAT without taking physics at all, and that was due in large part to taking ractice tests.