What are MA hours?
I am not an expert and I know nothing about reapplying. @WayOutWestMom can speak to that. If I had to guess, I would think it is better to apply when your application is strong rather than apply a second time.
My daughter went a different route but I will say that the 2-3 years she spent working in underrepresented communities following graduation (as well as during college) was extremely helpful and meaningful when she interviewed for her current program.
MA = medical assistant
Reapplicants are held to higher standards than first time applicants. Also, it’s strongly recommended that reapplicants take at least 1 gap year between applications to strengthen and improve their CV.
Additionally a number of med schools limit the number of times they will look an applicant. (Typically 3 times but a few say only 2. )
Every secondary asks a reapplicant what they have done to improve their app.
MCAT scores expire after 3 years from the test date. Some med schools only accept MCATs that are less than 2 years old.
Edit to add: do not underestimate the emotional toll that a cycle of med school applications entails . It’s an emotional roller coaster and there’s a whole, whole lot of rejection— even for successful applicants.
Do medical schools give feedback to applicants who were not accepted and would like to reapply?
Sometimes. School dependent. If offered, advice is typically very generic or is simply “there were lot of very competitive applicants this year.”
(edited to fix grammar)
@ttb1263 as noted above, reapplying is not a Plan B.
Keep in mind that many Plan Bs require additional schooling, additional/different prerequisites, volunteering etc. Many Plan Bs are also competitive. It could also be a long process, unless of course the student finds acceptable employment right out of college.
It sounds like your daughter knows she wants medical school (at least right now), which is all the more reason for her to take her time and apply when she is truly ready.
Also consider that med school adcomms are reluctant to accept students who are in the midst of advanced degrees or other career training programs. They don’t want applicants who are willing to bail on other degrees/programs. (It raises questions about their commitment to finish med school if they’re willing to drop out of other degrees/programs.)
Alternatively, some Plan Bs do not want to hear that they were a “backup” for medical school. That is viewed unfavorably, as some of these programs have limited spots and they want students who really want to be there.
Again, another reason for students to take their time and apply to med school when they are truly ready. Do not underestimate the strength of the applicant pool (not saying you are, and not suggesting your daughter will not be a strong applicant).
I am confused about the shadowing hours. You indicated that your daughter has “a couple of in person shadowing activities,” and also reported later that “she also has around 200 hours of doctor and clinical shadowing.”
Are these 200 hours virtual or in person? Is this why you asked about the validity of virtual shadowing?
Can you please clarify? How many hours does she have of in person shadowing?
It seems to me that if the virtual shadowing activity was for 2 weeks (as noted), that would mean about 50 (maybe more) virtual shadowing hours. That means she has over 100 (give or take) in person hours. Is that correct?
She had about 120 hours-ish in person shadowing for 2 doctors during 2 summer breaks and 80 hours virtual (2 weeks program). As for clinical volunteers, I don’t have the the exact numbers of hours.
Ok thanks! By any chance did she shadow primary care?
I have no idea 
other than she seems to be very focus and had a plan and scheduling in place juggling school and ECs.
Hopefully she has some primary care hours. This is where the need is and this is (I think?) what most medical students will end up doing (that is my understanding, and somebody will correct me if I am wrong).
My daughter spent a lot of time shadowing orthopedic surgeons. She loved it and always came home very excited. Then she shadowed primary care and changed her mind about medical school. I am not saying that your D will have the same experience or feeling, but I do think it is important to shadow primary care. Your daughter will figure that out.
On a side note, I seem to have earned a cake!
The truth is I rather she chooses engineering or CS. 
What does a piece of cake mean ? maybe everything is a piece of cake for you ? 
I think it’s my anniversary! I wish everything was a piece of cake for me!
True story. One of our kids has a degree in engineering. She will never be an engineer. She loved the coursework, but hated the idea of working in the field. She picked up a double major in biology and is much happier with her chosen profession than engineering. So even IF your daughter decides to get a degree in engineering, there is no guarantee she will work a day in that field (and yes…our DD knew what engineering was all about…her dad is an engineer).
It sounds like your daughter has plenty of shadowing hours, she does not need to shadow primary care. There are plenty of medical school applicants who don’t do so. If she gets to medical school, she will most definitely be doing at least one rotation in primary care.
At this point, she has other things to do as a prospective medical school applicant. She needs patient facing experience of some sort…before she applies to medical school…AND she needs volunteer work with less privileged populations. And I seriously doubt all of that can be done between when she gets her MCAT score and when she has to apply.
RE: primary care
The majority of med students end up doing some form of primary care. (IM, FM, peds, geriatrics, etc.)
That’s why it’s important to shadow some primary care docs.
Students can’t go into med school fixated on a particular specialty, esp the competitive ones. (Ortho, derm, plastic/reconstructive surgery, ENT, CT surgery, neurosurgery, pediatric surgery, cards, GI, oncology, radiation oncology, etc) Even the mid-competitive specialties (gen surg, Ob/gyn, anesthesia, psych, radiology, etc.) are becoming increasing competitive and students cannot assume that assume that if they just apply broadly enough (200+ programs), they can find a spot.
I tell pre meds that if they wouldn’t be happy doing primary care, then they probably shouldn’t be applying to med school.
About the only medical specialty that has become less competitive is emergency medicine, but that’s because the job market for EM has collapsed and recent EM grads are ending up un- or underemployed.
If she gets to medical school, she will most definitely be doing at least one rotation in primary care.
Actually the LCME mandates all med students do rotations in IM and peds (both of which are primary care), and most med schools also require family medicine.
Family member was doing a prestigious fellowship at a world-renowned academic medical center when Covid hit. (his specialty has NOTHING to do with infectious disease, pulmonary issues, intubating). Day 2 of the Covid lockdowns (in a city which was hit early and hard) the Chief Medical Officer assembled the entire staff in the parking lot to tell them “you are not an orthopedic surgeon. You are not a dermatologist. You are not a psychiatrist. As long as people are dying in our ER bay, we are ALL physicians, period. We will all be doing triage. And we will not stop as long as our patients need us”.
By Day 4 there was a heated tent over the parking lot, and every single physician was there holding the hands of the dying and holding up I-pads so the families could say good-bye to their loved ones.
I think of this story every time I meet a bright-eyed HS or college kid who has zero exposure to primary care but whose “destiny” is radiation oncology or interventional cardiology. Do they understand what it means to be a doctor- before they get to the high tech, sophisticated, million dollar machinery, they FIRST have to learn to use their eyes and their ears.
Actually EM collapsed because it used to thought of as a “lifestyle” specialty where people would 7-12 shifts a month and are free the rest of the time do go hiking, sailing, travel or whatever.
Then people who did that realized doing 7-12 random shifts really messes up sleep and life schedule, plus the work is not easy and pay not that great (compared to other specialties) and suddenly the field is drying up. There are actually plenty of EM jobs, just not enough people wanting them.
The reasons why EM collapsed are much more complicated than that.
The rapid expansion of EM residency positions without a corresponding increase in demand. (The expansion was carried out purposefully, as is documented by internal communications of a certain major for-profit healthcare company, with the intent to drive down EM compensation by creating an oversupply of EM physicians.) The increased use of midlevels in the ER as a cost cutting measure. The fact that very few public or private hospitals actually manage their own ER depts, but rely on a handful of for-profit staffing companies to do so. The fact every ER in the US operates at a loss. The fact the number of available hospital beds has been [severely] reduced at every hospital in the US which has lead to massive patient boarding problems in the ER.
Read the AAEM statement: https://www.aamc.org/news/they-served-covid-19-front-lines-now-these-emergency-medicine-doctors-cant-find-jobs
Many of the available EM job are offered as locums, not permanent positions. Or offered as independent contractor positions.