Having some shadowing experience is generally better than having none; but, if you cannot get a shadowing opportunity, that’s not necessarily the death knell for your application to medical school. From a medical school application perspective, one of the most important takeaways from this experience is observations you make about patients and their care. But medical school requires so much more than that. But how many hours of shadowing before medical school is actually required? However, you can’t have tunnel vision at the expense of everything else. OK, not really that funny. if you have tons of clinical experience, then shadowing obviously isnt as necessary to prove that you understand what the job will be like. So, generally speaking, you can assume that clinical hours do not count as physician shadowing hours. You can start with 30-40 cards per day and increase this as you get comfortable and more familiar with the program. You can do the bare minimum, follow some family doctor you know, and check that box on the AMCAS, TMDSAS, or AACOMAS. Shadowing can be a very enjoyable experience, so go nuts. Of those, some say 100 hours, while others say 12-24 hours. Less than $20K: 8.00%: $20K to <$80K: 30.60%: $80K to <$140K: 29.80%: $140K to <$200K: 18.50%: $200K or more: 13.10%: Source: The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada. Most of my job involved prepping patients and organizing appointments. Shadowing is a passive experience that involves watching the physician interact with patients while clinical experience involves you directly interacting with patients. In clinical experiences, you’ll often get the opportunity to participate as part of a medical team, interact with patients, and gain valuable exposure to the world of medicine. The medical school application process can make you feel nervous and strapped for time, but volunteer work is an area where you’ll learn the most valuable lessons. Another benefit of shadowing a doctor is the chance to look at the medical field from the patient’s point of view. How many shadowing hours for medical school should I aim for? Remember, you’ll be reviewed holistically, meaning the admissions committee will consider your application overall, as a whole. One of the common pieces missing in applications is the experience of shadowing. You don’t need thousands of hours, and you absolutely must ensure you’re handling your course load (and other responsibilities) effectively. Like medical schools, other graduate school programs (think: business or law) require strong grades, test scores, leadership experience, and resumes. You don’t need to go crazy and do thousands of hours as you see on some forums. Can You Be A Successful Pre-Med Student Without Taking Science Courses in High school? You don’t want to end up being a burnt-out physician that regrets going into medicine but now is forced to stay because they took out $300K of student loans. All rights reserved. Yes, there are a lot of pros of becoming a doctor, … Your pre-med years are the time to really figure out whether or not becoming a physician is the right career path for you. But do try to get exposure to a few different areas that you think you may want to pursue – different kinds of doctors have different kinds of responsibilities, and thus different kinds of work days. Medical Schools like to see variety because they want to see that you have experienced different aspects of medicine and also that you have an open mind. While shadowing is a unique experience with its own merits, there are a number of other ways of gaining experience in the world of medicine. 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