Some nagging thoughts about my freshman year

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>I think I'm doing this more for therapeutic reasons than anything. Anyway, I've been dealing with all kinds of crap this year and especially over the last few months, and while it's no excuse, I did slip up a little (not too badly) and I have some concerns regarding the future.</p>

<p>Firstly, last semester I got a 3.6, which is a bit less than I was hoping for but I'll take it. I 4.0d my sciences (calc 2 and chem 1), but I got a 2.5 in econ. I'm wondering just how much attention med schools pay attention to grades of C or lower? Assuming that my overall and science GPA is strong?</p>

<p>Secondly, I've had some serious asthma-related issues over the last couple of months and I've been hospitalized twice in that period. Because of this and various interruptions I had been failing Linear Algebra and I decided to drop it in the middle of the semester, which means I'll be getting a W on my transcript. Also, as a result, I'm only taking 13 credits this semester, so I'm worried that med schools will see me as lazy (as many of my fellow pre-meds are taking 16+ cred semesters). My health is starting to return to normal, and I'm so far doing okay in keeping up with my classes and I should be getting a 4.0 for this semester. </p>

<p>So basically, while I'll have a fairly competitive GPA going into sophomore, I have some black marks that I'm worried about - 2.5, W, 13 creds in a semester. I just want to know if this could be an issue in the future. Sorry if this sounds like nagging, I'm just a little OCD about this stuff and I've been stressing a lot over really little things lately. Thanks :)</p>

<p>One more, one more: how does one go about shadowing a physician? I don't mean the process of getting the opportunity, I mean what do you do? Do you just follow the doctor and take notes quietly, or can you ask questions? I'm kind of a questions person...</p>

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<p>Anyone? Well, I guess it wasn’t that great a question and I’m sure it’s been asked a billion and one times before…oh well.</p>

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<p>It’ll be an issue but not a dealbreaker. If the rest of your application is a little stronger to compensate I don’t foresee this being a major obstacle. On the other hand, if it keeps happening then obviously you’ll be in trouble. Need to come up with a plan to work around these things better.</p>

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<p>I have a feeling it varies from student to student and physician to physician, but here’s how it worked for me. I’d show up at the office maybe, 10 minutes before clinics began and chat with nurses, med students, residents, or fellows that were around. Usually the residents or fellows would be reviewing charts for patients who were already in the rooms. They’d explain what the patients were there for, then we’d (resident or fellow + me) go see the patients–history, physical, reason for visit, stuff like that. The resident or fellow (or me, occasionally) would present the patient to the attending who would then go see the patient also (I’d go with, again). Repeat roughly…8x per half day clinic. </p>

<p>I didn’t really see the point of taking notes, I was more focused on listening and watching. If I had questions (and I often did!), I’d ask the residents or fellows while we were going over the chart, any of the team while the patient was presented, or during any down time we had between patients. I did most of my shadowing at the hospital of the university I attend, so everyone was familiar with having students around. I took the “shadowing” title pretty literally and basically just acted like an interactive shadow all day. Once I got to know everyone well enough, I’d focus on different people each time: sometimes I’d shadow the resident, or the fellow, or the medical student (they seemed to get a huge kick out of having someone shadow them!) instead of the attending. It was great to see multiple perspectives on the same practice!</p>

<p>I don’t think shadowing is difficult. It just takes some discipline on your part to find physicians to shadow, to follow through with shaodwing them, and to create meaningful relationships with the docs you shadow (if you do it for long enough, which I’d recommend). Have fun with it! This is your first glimpse into what you want to do for the rest of your life, might as well enjoy it!</p>

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<p>Thanks, both of you. How long is “long enough” for shadowing? I was thinking in the realm of minimum 50 hours…? Also, how long is shadowing usually done in terms of days and weeks? (Like, how many hours per day for how many days?) I’m not trying to see how little work I can get away with, I just want to have a clear idea of what’s expected.</p>

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<p>My school’s health professions advisors recommend about 100h, which is what I believe me and most of my friends were shooting for when we began shadowing. Conventional wisdom on this board seems to recommend somewhere in the ballpark of 60-80, with more if you happen to find a great relationship.</p>

<p>I like, REALLY ENJOYED shadowing. I met some great physicians and felt like I fit well with their teams. Patients were great, I got to see a ton of different cases, and by the nature of the specialty (oncology), I also got to watch many patients go from diagnosis through treatment and into remission. I shadowed a surgical oncologist for about 200h (about 2.5h/week [most of his half day clinic] over 2+ years) and a hematologist/oncologist for about 200h (about 2.5h/week [most of his half day clinic] over 2+ years). By no means is this normal or expected. Additionally, I shadowed an orthopaedic surgeon for about 25h (3 full days, once a week for 3 weeks), an otorhinolaryngologist/head and neck surgeon for about 25h (3 full days, once a week for 3 weeks), and a pulmonologist for about 12h (3 half days spread out across a few months). I later discovered that I had a ridiculous amount of shadowing hours compared to average applicants, but it’s something I really enjoyed and got a lot out of.</p>

<p>One of my friends wants to be a pediatrician and has known it like, forever–so she focused all of her shadowing on a variety of pediatricians from a variety of practice settings (urban, rural, university, private practice, free clinics). She clocked in 75 hours over a year and a half. I believe she typically arranged to go for a full day (8h) every once in awhile.</p>

<p>Another one of my friends has no idea what type of physician he wants to be. He wanted to see as many specialties as he could, so he decided to shadow a wide variety of physicians in his hometown and in our college town. He’s shadowed a few internists, some surgeons, some family practice docs, and has done a lot in hospitals too. He probably ended up with close to 100h.</p>

<p>Another one of my friends started volunteering at the cancer hospital associated with my university when he was a sophomore, got to know some of the oncologists (the surgical oncologist I shadow too, to be specific), and begun shadowing them that summer. He’s focused all of his shadowing on one or two docs, but has made it a point to get to know the entire staff–nurses, volunteers, students, residents, fellows, etc–associated with the clinics he shadows. Since he volunteered there too, he was “trained” to do basic volunteer things like hand out forms and transport patients, so he also helps out around the clinic in those capacities. He’s probably pushing 250-300h by now.</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, all 4 of us got into medical school this year, with MCAT scores of 28, 30, 32, and 35 and GPAs >3.75. I personally was asked about my shadowing experiences at each of my 4 interviews (however, I also had both the oncologists write me recommendation letters, which could have played a role too). </p>

<p>Really, it’s up to you. Just find a way to make it work and then go out and do it!</p>

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<p>Okay, thanks so much!</p>