Shadowing hours are not required to apply to medical school, and medical schools don’t list an “exact” number of shadowing hours they recommend for pre-med applicants. But shadowing experience does count toward a student’s clinical hours. And clinical experience is probably the most important extracurricular for a med school applicant, relative to volunteer and research experiences.
Medical schools want students who know what working in a clinical environment entails and are still certain they want to work in medicine. Below we’ve listed more information on how many shadowing hours to aim for:
How Many Shadowing Hours Do You Need for Medical School Applications
Again, students do not need shadowing experience to apply for medical school. And while it does count toward a student’s clinical hours, it should not be the only clinical experience a med school applicant has. Read more about total clinical hour requirements here. But some general guidelines on clinical shadowing hours can be found below.
Quality over Quantity
Many college pre-meds feel that shadowing with a “prestigious” doctor, like a hospital’s chief of surgery, will look better on a medical school application. Clinical shadowing is a great opportunity to gain clinical hours as well as to network with local physicians for potential letters of recommendation. But quality of the shadowing hours is certainly more important than quantity, regardless of who the physician is.
This means several weeks shadowing a doctor who really takes the time to teach and get to know you is much more valuable than one week of shadowing a doctor who won’t remember your name afterwards. These quality experiences also offer you a greater chance of obtaining a glowing letter of recommendation.
Keep it Brief
Clinical shadowing experiences are usually short-term, often a few hours a week for around 3-6 months. But they can be as short as just a few weeks. Students in need of a letter of recommendation should spend enough time to really get to know the doctor they are shadowing and feel they have gained a quality experience. Usually 5-10 hours a week for at least 1 month. Most students shadow for around 100 hours.
University pre-med advisors usually have information on local shadowing opportunities, read more here about asking your pre-med advisor about shadowing opportunities. But clinical shadowing should not be your only clinical experience. This is because it’s short-term and because there is generally no direct patient care. Read here about other ways for pre-meds to gain clinical experience for med school applications.
Final Thoughts
Medical schools do not require shadowing experience and have no number of recommended shadowing hours. Medical schools do want applicants to have clinical experience, but this does not need to be shadowing. Shadowing is a great opportunity, particularly for freshman pre-meds, to network with local physicians and to see if the medical field is really a good fit. It’s also a great opportunity to obtain a quality letter of recommendation. Read more here about other opportunities for pre-med clinical experience or read here about asking your pre-med advisor about local shadowing opportunities.
