Veteran medic, shadowing question

[psychic_detective]

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Hello All,

First time posting, so forgive me if the info I'm asking for is in another thread. I looked, but did not find anything that answered my question.

I am about half way through undergrad right now. I have a great GPA, I volunteer once a week at an after school program (during when the school is operating), I'm in a club on campus, I am a volunteer county emergency responder, I was a SI (paid tutor type thing) for the past year and I will be transitioning that into a volunteer tutor in the fall because of course load.

So, I think I am on the right track, but... I recently met with the pre health adviser at my school and she commented that I need to be doing some shadowing. Ok... some background.

I was in the Army for 8 years, as a medic. While I was in I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, worked in a busy ER for two years, worked in a primary care clinic for almost 1 year, and I did a few other things like sick call and such. I am currently still in the National Guard, still as a medic.

My question is, what will I get out of shadowing? I don't want to do it just to check the box. I'm sure I would learn some things, I enjoy meeting new people, and I like working in those environments. My schedule is busy, I balance the Guard only calling me up the weekends before tests (like they have scheduled it with my professors), volunteering, tutoring, visiting family that I haven't been spending time with for 8 years, and trying to complete my degree in 3.5 years (because I started in the spring and want to graduate in the spring). Will I get a benefit from shadowing other that answering that question, "why do you want to be a doctor?", or checking some box?

Sorry, I am not trying to be rude. Just interested. Also thanks for any replies in advance.

 

[psychic_detective]

I hope I didn't come off as an ass. 🙁

 

[psychic_detective]

I get that they are not the same thing, and not trying to imply that, and thanks for the reply.

 

[psychic_detective]

Okay, okay, I see what you two are saying. Thanks for the replies and I will be changing my scheduling to participate. And thanks again both of you.

 

[Gfliptastic]

And so forgive ME if I state anything incorrectly (as a resident), but as a medic you are mostly exposed to bleeders, grabbers (heart attacks), strokers. And medicine is not that. Even if you are striving to be an EM doc. There's a bunch of stuff in between that. The non-emergently ill who don't need to be stabilized.

But the purpose of shadowing, in your case, is not for "patient encounters"/interaction. You've obviously had that in spades, which might actually be another form of your original question. The REAL purpose of shadowing is so the AdCom has tangible evidence that you are in fact making the life-altering decision to be a physician because you are quite familiar w/ modern medicine in the USA. When you shadow a physician, you will see how much documentation is going to be your future no matter what specialty you go into.

It answers THE question through your actions: "Yes, I want to be a physician, and YES I know that probably 30% of my time will be documentation. And I STILL want to do this!" And the reason it usually requires many hours of shadowing for you to show that you honestly understand that.

Granted I am a bit of cynic now that I've graduated from med school, but being on the other side of the proverbial med school door helped me understand what the purpose is for much of requirements to get the door opened. What is the REAL purpose of the MCAT? The GPA (and sGPA)? Extracurriculars? Volunteering/shadowing? It all makes sense...NOW!!! lol

Residency ain't all that fun so far either, FYI, but I digress.

Thank you for your service! Good luck!!!!!

 

[psychic_detective]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Goro]

The idea behind shadowing is that you see what a doctor's day is like, and if you shadow different specialists, like, say, Family Care vs Orthopod, you see how differently they handle the practice of Medicine. This goes into the bigger picture of you showing us that you know what you're getting into.

Many thanks for your service to our country!

 

[psychic_detective]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[rikudo]

Working side by side with a physician during patient care can count as shadowing. I put down several hundred hours of shadowing during my deployments and service. Get in touch with the physicians you worked with and see if they will attest to your time together. After 8 years as a medic, you should understand a physician's role and not need additional shadowing. IMO your volunteer time would be better spent with veterans groups or other personal interests.

 

[psychic_detective]

Thanks for the reply. I was going to do that, and get a letter or two from the physician I worked with at my last primary care clinic. We always talked and planned out the patients for the day, discussed what we needed to do, and she always talked with me about why we were doing things. So my thoughts were like yours rikudo, but... after reading the other replies I think I am going to do some shadowing. They made some interesting points, and it never hurts to know more people or get different perspectives. I'm sure I'll fit it in my schedule somewhere, lol, I only have 140 hours of my week planned out so far this fall.