Hello everybody,
I just finished my freshman year of undergrad and was planning on starting to shadow physicians. I have already shadowed three orthopedic surgeries (7.5 hours).
What classifies as a "good" shadowing experience? What should I be getting out of these experiences.
I plan on shadowing at least two different physicians. How many different fields should I shadow? How many total hours should I aim for?
Thank you!!!
I would say a large majority of applicants have very little experience in what it is actually like day-to-day as a doctor. As in many professions, but even more so in medicine, there is a fairytale/romantic appeal and an unrealistic idea of what being a doctor is like.
Shadowing doctors gives insight to the day to day life of a doctor, but I think equally as important as watching them treat patients, is to pick their brains about their likes/dislikes about the profession.
Medicine has an INCREDIBLE amount of politics in the day to day and in the overall field. This is enough to make some current physicians wish they had pursued other avenues besides medicine (and many are "stuck" momentarily due to debt).
Students also seem to miss the fact that (unfortunately in my opinion) medicine requires a huge amount of "business" experience. Whenever I ask docs (I work with them every-day) what's the one thing they with they knew before hand about medicine. Their response is 1. I wish i knew how much BS politics I would deal with every day---2. I wish I knew how much business would be involved (regardless if they like/dislike the business aspect). These two things cannot be escaped, regardless of field.
Medicine is also not always "rewarding" as so many personal statements speak of. Shadowing should be a time for you to really get some insider opinions about it, before you take on a mountain of debt.
edit: And it isn't officially a requirement (at least not at most places), but I would say >90% of accepted students have it. I would speculate that adcoms see it as mandatory.
