shadowing

[gusty heath]

Yes, hours do matter to an extent. You can definitely talk about shadowing experiences that are just a few hours, but your total number of shadowing hours should be higher than ~20 hours or whatever you have (you'd maybe want more like 50+ hours, if not higher). There may be exceptions to this for nontrads who have extensive experience working with physicians in clinical contexts, but for most applicants, you ideally want at least several dozen shadowing hours imo

[agile sky]

Okay I live in a small town with only two hospitals, and after covid they banned shadowing. Unless you know a doctor and can go through the hoops and loops. I personally did not know a doctor and i never had a primary care giver. However, there's this program called medx that one of the hospitals was offering as a way in and get exposure by shadowing physicians but only for 16 hours. I know it sounds like excuses but i tried my best to get shadowing. On top of that the senior resident literally grunted at me when i asked when can i shadow him again 🥲 . So, yeah not a lot of options here

I'm also non-trad, and i work full time.

[gusty heath]

Totally fair that there aren't a lot of options—perhaps you can try reaching out to clinics in the area for shadowing (if there are any clinics)? Or ask your family (or even neighbors or friends) if they know doctors that seem friendly and that you could reach out to (e.g. their own doctors). If you have gotten clinical experience in particular places, you can also see if you can shadow physicians there or in those networks