Volunteering vs shadowing

[wjs010]

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Hey all I've seen a lot of people say they have 200 or 2 million hospital hours. Is this considered shadowing? I find it hard to believe that one doc is gonna let me shadow him or her for hundreds of hours. I'm kinda worried about my EC.

Also, I know a lot of applicants lack hands on care. When I was interested in going to PT school, I got over 200 hours of direct contact with patients, in and outpatient , but it was under a PT supervision. Would DO schools look down on this or just dismiss it or what ? Thanks

 

[nicolemsm]

Hey all I've seen a lot of people say they have 200 or 2 million hospital hours. Is this considered shadowing? I find it hard to believe that one doc is gonna let me shadow him or her for hundreds of hours. I'm kinda worried about my EC.

Also, I know a lot of applicants lack hands on care. When I was interested in going to PT school, I got over 200 hours of direct contact with patients, in and outpatient , but it was under a PT supervision. Would DO schools look down on this or just dismiss it or what ? Thanks

On SDN you'll see a lot of outliers with millions of hospital volunteer or patient contact hours. Remember, you have to do what your schedule limits you, and any patient contact is better than none... whether it be 10 hours or 100 hours.

As you mentioned, many doctors dont want an incessant shadow ... I had one physician tell me straight up once "Look you only have to shadow me once a month... I'll get to know you, you get to know me & I'll write you a stellar letter" Really all it takes is getting to know the ropes watching patient/dr. interactions and inspiring meaningful conversations with the doc.

In terms of your direct contact it absolutely counts. Anything in a medical setting counts... whether you're wiping butts, taking vitals or seeing in/out patients in a PT office. I believe an adcom on here once said "If you can smell patients, it is a clinical experience."

I would recommend however getting some DO shadowing in and attempting to get yourself a DO recommendation letter- some schools require or even recommend it.

 

[wjs010]

That's fantastic then. I thought I would have to stop going to the hospital. I have it pretty good there actually. Not much pre paperwork and it's really a small hospital. I guess I'll put that on the DO app but would outpatient help too?

There is a family practice doc in my town with my exact same name lol. He is rally nice. I would love for him to be a DO but I have my doubts that he is an MD. How funny would it be for the schools to look at my LORs and have some doc with the exact name as me. Seems like it would be a red flag, hopefully in a good way. I will try to shadow a family practice but I have a feeling it will be harder than just observing in pt setting I don't mind being annoying though, as it will pay off 😀

 

[MedPR]

Hey all I've seen a lot of people say they have 200 or 2 million hospital hours. Is this considered shadowing? I find it hard to believe that one doc is gonna let me shadow him or her for hundreds of hours. I'm kinda worried about my EC.

Also, I know a lot of applicants lack hands on care. When I was interested in going to PT school, I got over 200 hours of direct contact with patients, in and outpatient , but it was under a PT supervision. Would DO schools look down on this or just dismiss it or what ? Thanks

That's fantastic then. I thought I would have to stop going to the hospital. I have it pretty good there actually. Not much pre paperwork and it's really a small hospital. I guess I'll put that on the DO app but would outpatient help too?

There is a family practice doc in my town with my exact same name lol. He is rally nice. I would love for him to be a DO but I have my doubts that he is an MD. How funny would it be for the schools to look at my LORs and have some doc with the exact name as me. Seems like it would be a red flag, hopefully in a good way. I will try to shadow a family practice but I have a feeling it will be harder than just observing in pt setting I don't mind being annoying though, as it will pay off 😀

I know you're new and everything, but you really should learn to utilize the search function.

1. Volunteering and shadowing are completely different.
2. You shouldn't worry about other applicants. You should worry about past matriculants. After all, anyone can apply.
3. Patient interaction is always good on your app.
4. You can google to find out if someone is an MD or a DO.

 

[coolingglasses]

^ this. also, it's not just about quantity. even if you rack up hundreds of shadowing or volunteer hours, if you spent most of it sitting around you're going to find you have no experiences to draw from.

so just make sure you're getting something useful out of your time invested.