Unsure about adding foreign shadowing experience to application

[Timespace12]

During the summer of my freshman year of college I participated in the Atlantis Project. For those who don't know, the Atlantis Project is essentially a company that sends you abroad to shadow physicians primarily based in Europe. I went to Greece and shadowed doctors for somewhere around 100 hours. I did not participate in any hands-on medical work, merely following doctors around and observing.

I am very unsure about whether to include this experience in my application or not. I did it as a naive freshman, not knowing anything about voluntourism. Was this voluntourism? Probably so. We shadowed doctors for quite a bit, but we also had some free time and I paid to get an experience that I otherwise could have substituted with meaningful domestic shadowing. That being said, I did learn quite a bit from the experience as I was shadowing in a severely underfunded public hospital. Seeing the patients, hospital conditions, and the doctors performing their work was a stark contrast from anything I had seen in the U.S. Either way, because of how voluntourism is viewed among many medical schools (rightfully so) I am very hesitant about adding this experience. Without this experience I will have had approx. 50 hours of peds. shadowing and that is it. I will likely be scribing during this summer as well, but that is not confirmed as of right now.

Any advice would be of great use. Thank you all in advance.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[965978]

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for this?

 

[Goro]

During the summer of my freshman year of college I participated in the Atlantis Project. For those who don't know, the Atlantis Project is essentially a company that sends you abroad to shadow physicians primarily based in Europe. I went to Greece and shadowed doctors for somewhere around 100 hours. I did not participate in any hands-on medical work, merely following doctors around and observing.

I am very unsure about whether to include this experience in my application or not. I did it as a naive freshman, not knowing anything about voluntourism. Was this voluntourism? Probably so. We shadowed doctors for quite a bit, but we also had some free time and I paid to get an experience that I otherwise could have substituted with meaningful domestic shadowing. That being said, I did learn quite a bit from the experience as I was shadowing in a severely underfunded public hospital. Seeing the patients, hospital conditions, and the doctors performing their work was a stark contrast from anything I had seen in the U.S. Either way, because of how voluntourism is viewed among many medical schools (rightfully so) I am very hesitant about adding this experience. Without this experience I will have had approx. 50 hours of peds. shadowing and that is it. I will likely be scribing during this summer as well, but that is not confirmed as of right now.

Any advice would be of great use. Thank you all in advance.

Medical tourism. Skip the mention

 

[Timespace12]

Medical tourism. Skip the mention

@Goro Thank you for the advice, I will probably be leaving it out. With that said, do you think 50 hours in peds is sufficient shadowing given that I am removing my Atlantis Project experience?

 

[gyngyn]

@Goro Thank you for the advice, I will probably be leaving it out. With that said, do you think 50 hours in peds is sufficient shadowing given that I am removing my Atlantis Project experience?

50 hours of shadowing is plenty. Peds is fine.

 

[Goro]

50 hours of shadowing is plenty. Peds is fine.

/thread!

 

[Cheeezcake]

50 hours of shadowing is plenty. Peds is fine.

How many hours are generally looked for? Or do admissions committees care more about the quality of your experience?

 

[gyngyn]

How many hours are generally looked for? Or do admissions committees care more about the quality of your experience?

40 to fifty is fine as long a much of it is longitudinal care (office IM, peds, FM, OBG is "quality" shadowing).

 

[Abc1234567___]

Medical tourism. Skip the mention

What if you shadow in a foreign country (no volunteering) without paying a company? For example, would it be frowned upon if I was to shadow in a foreign country for a couple weeks while staying with my grandparents? My thinking is I am getting a perspective of a different healthcare system (and I will still do US shadowing) and I am not going out of my way to go to a foreign country since I will already be there regardless. I appreciate the input.

 

[Moko]

How many hours are generally looked for? Or do admissions committees care more about the quality of your experience?

Quality over quantity. When I review apps, I care about the motivation behind doing activities as it provides insight into their personality and character. I also look to see what skills and insights people gained from their experiences, and how those lessons can be used to enrich the medical school community and/or help them become better clinicians in the future.

What if you shadow in a foreign country (no volunteering) without paying a company? For example, would it be frowned upon if I was to shadow in a foreign country for a couple weeks while staying with my grandparents? My thinking is I am getting a perspective of a different healthcare system (and I will still do US shadowing) and I am not going out of my way to go to a foreign country since I will already be there regardless. I appreciate the input.

I don't think it'll be frowned upon. One of my shadowing experiences was abroad when I was home visiting family. I mentioned it in a sentence. I wouldn't make a big deal of this either way.

 

[differentiating]

What if you shadow in a foreign country (no volunteering) without paying a company? For example, would it be frowned upon if I was to shadow in a foreign country for a couple weeks while staying with my grandparents? My thinking is I am getting a perspective of a different healthcare system (and I will still do US shadowing) and I am not going out of my way to go to a foreign country since I will already be there regardless. I appreciate the input.

It won’t hurt you, but I doubt it would help, either. I’ve interviewed potential students who’ve done foreign shadowing, and as long as they’ve done US shadowing, I generally don’t make much of it.

 

[Goro]

What if you shadow in a foreign country (no volunteering) without paying a company? For example, would it be frowned upon if I was to shadow in a foreign country for a couple weeks while staying with my grandparents? My thinking is I am getting a perspective of a different healthcare system (and I will still do US shadowing) and I am not going out of my way to go to a foreign country since I will already be there regardless. I appreciate the input.

Will be discounted.

 

[p4m123]

What about a program abroad that includes shadowing? Eg. volunteering at public health workshops, community health campaigns, learning from local doctors about the local healthcare system and common health problems, as well as shadowing. I wouldn't label this as shadowing in the description, just wondering how this might be viewed.

 

[p4m123]

Yes I've read this and think its important. It only mentions invasive procedures, however. I am curious how volunteering/learning centered more on public health type activities would be viewed. Particularly (in my case), in the context of an interest in global health as an overarching theme throughout the application.

 

[Abc1234567___]

Will be discounted.

Thanks for the reply. Can you clarify what you mean by that? Does that mean it is less valuable than US shadowing (which I understand) or are you saying thay it will hurt me? As in, is it better to have 50 US shadowing hours and 30-40 foreign, or is it better to have just 50 US?

 

[Goro]

Thanks for the reply. Can you clarify what you mean by that? Does that mean it is less valuable than US shadowing (which I understand) or are you saying thay it will hurt me? As in, is it better to have 50 US shadowing hours and 30-40 foreign, or is it better to have just 50 US?

I think it's self-explanatory. US shadowing >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>foreign shadowing.
It won't hurt you unless it's your only shadowing.