Should I move my family to another city to get shadowing experience?

Introducing myself: I’m a 34-year-old dad with 4 kids (12, 10, 8, 3) at home and a super supportive FT-working wife. We’re low income, but we have an incredible support-community and a milieu of good attitudes and great work ethic. (Yay!)

I put together a DIY premed course track at my local community college to achieve the competencies I need to enter and thrive in med school. However, this means shadowing is technically not possible for me. Quote:

Regarding shadowing, in accordance with the guidelines put forward by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, the MD Undergraduate Program discourages individuals not enrolled as students of health professions regulated by the Health Professions Act or Emergency Health Services Act from participating in physician shadowing.

What should I do? Will it suffice to “hang out” with doctors (there are several in my close circle of friends) and volunteer in my local hospital as a regular layperson? As a former pastor, I have good experience interacting with people in crisis. Or is shadowing so important that I should make the sacrifices needed to get it done? Ie, move my family to another city and reconnect with another school or more specifically, an official pre-med program.

Leaving my supportive community and my wife’s income will invariably impact the almost utopian conditions that are certainly helping me achieve high marks. But we knew it was impossible to stay put when we started this journey. We just didn’t anticipate it would be this early.

A penny for your thoughts?

Hey there Ben. Are you doing the virtual shadowing at eshadowing.com? Right now doing that while juggling family and COVID-19 would be great and understandable on your apps.

I didn’t know about it. Thanks for the link! :smile:

So I do eshadowing.com on Monday nights at 7PM CT. And tonight, on Wednesdays at 7PM CT, I do clinicalshadowing.com.

That’s great! Thanks, Mohammad. I’ll sign up for both. You’re a legend!

3rd for virtual shadowing.

Judging by:

I’m assuming you still have some time before you apply. Get some hours of real shadowing done before you apply. Virtual shadowing will not replace being in a clinic/hospital in-person.

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I will be applying for 2023 year. I’m also training to volunteer as a suicide hotline counsellor. (My desired specialty is psychiatry.) Hopefully by 2022. I will figure out how to get some real, legally supported clinical time in.