uscbigdawg Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I was called by a school today expressing a concern over my application since I had no shadowing hours. After explaining to the person on the phone that she was correct that I have no shadowing hours listed because every day, I worked with a PA or a physician and my over 12k hours of experience as an Army MEDEVAC flight/combat medic was worth more. The person replied that, "In spite of your experience, we ask that applicants shadow PA's". I asked that maybe I'm missing what's involved in shadowing, and asked if shadowing was simply observing a PA doing their job. They replied yes. So, I asked, when I had a clinical case that was beyond my knowledge and referred the patient to the next person above me, my PA, and watched them complete the assessment and diagnosis is that what they were talking about? She explained yes and even less. It was explained to me that literally that a "shadower," literally does nothing and stays out of the way. So the question begs, how does this give one applicant preferential experience over someone with real, hands on medical experience? Further, I asked what documentation was required (since I didn't put on my CASPA application). It was explained to me that an e-mail from me to them, was sufficient. So...again, the question begs to be answered that if one applicant has preferential review over another for shadowing, why wouldn't something a more concrete than an e-mail be used to substantiate the shadowing? I'll mention that in my LOR from my PA, he states, "I would trust Rich (paraphrase) to work on my family". That, to me and 2 doctor friends that not only does this tout my ability, but also explains that he's worked with me enough to make such a statement. Please let me know if I'm missing something. Thanks, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted October 1, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 1, 2011 shadowing is bs but some programs require it to make up for lack of experience in the general applicant pool. either get some or apply to places that know the value of experience. I did not do 1 second of shadowing. it didn't exist as a concept and was not even mentioned when I applied to pa school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuggedJay Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I think it's ridiculous that they would value some "stay out of the way shadowing" more than actually interacting and seeing first hand in a combat enviroment what PAs do. Sounds to me like who ever called you was just going by the numbers and following their protocols. They're probably just going through the list to see who fit the pre-reqs or not without thinking about the fact that your actual experience probably gives you way better insight into what PAs do than "shadowing" them. Might have to just do some "shadowing" anyway just so they can check you off as having done so. Try not to be bored :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 Oh...I contacted 3 of my PA's in the Army this afternoon to give them a heads up and they all sent letters for me to have with corresponding hours and explanations of how we worked together and listed a couple hundred of my hours as "shadowing," hours. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuggedJay Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 ^Goodjob. Sounds like your all set :) BTW your screename looks familiar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingsquirrel Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I have over 10K hours as a critical care paramedic. Not a shift goes by when I don't take report from, or give report to a PA. I also work side by side with several PAs and NPs on my DMAT team. I agree that shadowing is complete and utter bs and that real understanding of the role of PAs comes from actually working in healthcare. That being said, there were some schools to which I wanted to apply that required it, so I sucked it up and did it. Did I gain any great insight into the healthcare system? No, but one of the two places I shadowed offered me a clinical rotation if I got into PA school in the area and hinted that they end up hiring a lot of their students. It sounds like you know a bunch of PAs, so just go "shadow" one of them for a shift and make the school happy. Worst case scenario, it's 12 hours of your life that you will never get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Steve Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Not a lick of shadowing here either...just a bit of experience. Of course I have no idea of your personal situation but if you have a choice...I'd put that school on the list of places "I really don't want to attend". If they are that dense about this shadowing thing verses experience, I am not sure their school focus would be a good match for me personally. guess what I am trying to say is...can you go elsewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 Yes sir....I can go anywhere. There's a personal reason for applying to this school and really nothing else other than that. However if I don't get in, I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it. Thanks for all the support folks. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted September 29, 2012 Author Share Posted September 29, 2012 Not to beat a dead horse, but overheard a rather arrogant fellow student in my OChem class proudly boast having over 2000 shadowing hours as a volunteer at a local hospital and feels that watching what his PAs do is "MUCH," more valuable than anyone's actual experience with hands on medical care. That perked the ears of not only the 4 military medics in the room, but the 5 paramedics in the room. He went on and on about how the idea that PAs wanting more priveleges is stupid and since he never wanted to own his own practice, the idea of a PA doing so is stupid, etc. Note: He wants to be a PA! We collectively shook our heads and just had a good laugh over the guy. Apparently has a degree in creative writing and since the job market for that was going so well, he decided to become a PA. Who feeds these guys this information about shadowing?!?!?!?! Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Steve Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Who feeds these guys this information about shadowing?!?!?!?! Rich People who have a very myopic view of the world and no HCE. I would be willing to bet their life experience is pretty slim as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmood Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I had a similar experience, but it was during an interview. I was asked why, in my over 8K hours of hospital experience, I never did any shadowing of a PA. I gave basically the same answer you did, explaining that I worked with PAs providing actual patient care every single day and I really didn't see how my taking a vacation day to go to the hospital unpaid and follow one of my colleagues around, watching instead of doing, would help me understand her career any better. Of course I panicked on the way home that I had blown the interview by having no shadowing hours. The next week I did, in fact, take a vacation day to watch a PA do her job for 8 hours. Turned out that was needless, as I got in anyway. LOL. I should have done like you did, and just asked someone to email them saying some of my hours were shadowing. Smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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