How to find a mentor or shadow an OBGYN in Dallas,TX

[xula]

0+ Posts


Join Date: Jul 2004 How to find a mentor or shadow an OBGYN in Dallas,TX

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Hello,

I have recently graduated and I am preparing to take the April 05 MCAT and I was wondering how could I find someone who would be willing to allow me to shadow them and possibly be my mentor. I am interested in OBGYN and just do not know of any physicians that would be interested or know how I could find an OBGYN that may be interested in having a mentor. I am the first person in my family to want to go to professional school so I do not have any contacts or any advice as to how I can go about finding a mentor or someone who would allow me to shadow them so that I could get some clinical experiences because my degree in biology and minors in chemistry and spanish do not provide enough to get any clinical jobs and I have volunteered at hospitals but mostly I am placed in clerical areas so I just thought this would be my last resort as to getting some information. Thank you for any help that anyone can give me.

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[starayamoskva]

0+ Posts


Join Date: Jul 2004 How to find a mentor or shadow an OBGYN in Dallas,TX

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

I have recently graduated and I am preparing to take the April 05 MCAT and I was wondering how could I find someone who would be willing to allow me to shadow them and possibly be my mentor. I am interested in OBGYN and just do not know of any physicians that would be interested or know how I could find an OBGYN that may be interested in having a mentor. I am the first person in my family to want to go to professional school so I do not have any contacts or any advice as to how I can go about finding a mentor or someone who would allow me to shadow them so that I could get some clinical experiences because my degree in biology and minors in chemistry and spanish do not provide enough to get any clinical jobs and I have volunteered at hospitals but mostly I am placed in clerical areas so I just thought this would be my last resort as to getting some information. Thank you for any help that anyone can give me.

Call the hospitals in your area and ask them if they have shadowing programs in place for undergrad students. Ask your friends who they or their wives use as an ObGYn and use that as a referel base.

Good luck

 

[ivfmd]

0+ Posts


Join Date: Jul 2004 How to find a mentor or shadow an OBGYN in Dallas,TX

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If feasible, you might consider getting job experience as a medical assistant for a doctor.

Mine is a unique situation, but each year, I hire two new medical assistants who are recently college grads with no experience, who are interested in going on to professional school. In return for one or two years of commitment, they work in my office and get an unbeatable experience learning to do everything from draw blood on patients, assisting in procedures and counseling patients. They get great exposure to real medicine and as a result, it strongly reinforces their desire to go into health care and gives them honest "ammunition" they can use during their application.

Because of this, they have a lot of powerful material to use in their personal statements and are very impressive during their interviews, especially when asked "How do you know you want to go into medicine?". Because I am involved in the admissions process for the medical school for which I am a faculty member, I can write a very powerful sincere letter having known this person well after working with them for a year.

In the six years I've been doing this, every person but one has gotten into the field of their choice, whether it be medicine, genetic counseling, PA, PhD, Nurse Practitioner. (The one who didn't actually decided to get married early and now is a happy mother of two.)

Actually, word has spread on the success of this type of situation and each year now, I get 40+ applications for the two available positions. It gives my practice arguably some of the brightest, hard-working staff members and it provides the staff member a great experience in terms of strengthening their application and confirming their desire to go into medicine.

I am not in Texas, but there may be some private practice physician with ties to a local medical school who is hiring MA's in your local area. I suggest one with some academic ties, because they tend to be better at writing rec letters. If you are interested in taking this route, I can give you more specific advice.

 

[xula]

Hello,

Yes I would be very interested on how I could go about finding such programs in Dallas. Thank you so much for responding to my thread. It has been difficult tyring to find someone who would be willing to be my mentor and since I do not have any certificates, I am not able to find any clinical work and right now I am working in the admissions/information dept at Children's Medical Center of Dallas and although I am not doing any clinical work I am able to interact with patient's and their families as they are admitting their son/daughter and I am able to use some of my Spanish skills since I am in contact with families that speak Spanish however, I know that this is not clinical I feel that its somewhat of a good opportunity because I find that by volunteering its mostly clerical work. I also thought that for a medical assistant you would have to apply to some of the medical technical schools but any information that you can help me with I would be very appreciative. Thank you

0+ Posts


Join Date: Jul 2004 How to find a mentor or shadow an OBGYN in Dallas,TX

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If feasible, you might consider getting job experience as a medical assistant for a doctor.

Mine is a unique situation, but each year, I hire two new medical assistants who are recently college grads with no experience, who are interested in going on to professional school. In return for one or two years of commitment, they work in my office and get an unbeatable experience learning to do everything from draw blood on patients, assisting in procedures and counseling patients. They get great exposure to real medicine and as a result, it strongly reinforces their desire to go into health care and gives them honest "ammunition" they can use during their application.

Because of this, they have a lot of powerful material to use in their personal statements and are very impressive during their interviews, especially when asked "How do you know you want to go into medicine?". Because I am involved in the admissions process for the medical school for which I am a faculty member, I can write a very powerful sincere letter having known this person well after working with them for a year.

In the six years I've been doing this, every person but one has gotten into the field of their choice, whether it be medicine, genetic counseling, PA, PhD, Nurse Practitioner. (The one who didn't actually decided to get married early and now is a happy mother of two.)

Actually, word has spread on the success of this type of situation and each year now, I get 40+ applications for the two available positions. It gives my practice arguably some of the brightest, hard-working staff members and it provides the staff member a great experience in terms of strengthening their application and confirming their desire to go into medicine.

I am not in Texas, but there may be some private practice physician with ties to a local medical school who is hiring MA's in your local area. I suggest one with some academic ties, because they tend to be better at writing rec letters. If you are interested in taking this route, I can give you more specific advice.

 

[ivfmd]

Taking a vocation class to get a medical assistant's certificate would not be a wise use of your time.

Many OB's don't realize that it's better to have a very bright, motivated college-educated premed who is a fast learner with zero experience than to have someone who went from high school to a 6 month vocational school.

In the state of California, any MD can supervise 10 blood draws or 10 injections and grant the equivalent of a phlebotomy certificate or medical assistant's certificate. I don't know what the rules are in Texas.

I would venture to guess there are many OB's who would love to have a Spanish-speaking assistant.

You are in the classical predicament. The only volunteer job you've found so far is not really rich in patient exposure. You will have to be proactive and call around to doctor's offices. Sell yourself as a highly intellgent and motivated college grad who is focused on going to medical school. Sell yourself as a fast learner and hard worker. Offer to work for minimal pay (you're just volunteering now anyway, no?). You may get many rejections, but all it takes is one doctor willing to take a chance. You might ask your mom's friends for any personal contacts that might help you get your foot in the door.

 

[xula]

Thank you so much. As a matter of fact I have tried to call some doctor's offices looking for mentors and for some shadowing opportunities however, when I call I am only able to speak with the secretary and they all tell me that they do not have such opportunities. Is there another way so that I would be able to speak with a physician without going through the secretary first. Also I have been told that I should just go to the hospital and walk around and when I see a physician just ask them if I could shadow them however I am not sure if that would be appropriate. What do you think about this? Any other suggestions that you may think of would be very helpful. Thank you again

Taking a vocation class to get a medical assistant's certificate would not be a wise use of your time.

Many OB's don't realize that it's better to have a very bright, motivated college-educated premed who is a fast learner with zero experience than to have someone who went from high school to a 6 month vocational school.

In the state of California, any MD can supervise 10 blood draws or 10 injections and grant the equivalent of a phlebotomy certificate or medical assistant's certificate. I don't know what the rules are in Texas.

I would venture to guess there are many OB's who would love to have a Spanish-speaking assistant.

You are in the classical predicament. The only volunteer job you've found so far is not really rich in patient exposure. You will have to be proactive and call around to doctor's offices. Sell yourself as a highly intellgent and motivated college grad who is focused on going to medical school. Sell yourself as a fast learner and hard worker. Offer to work for minimal pay (you're just volunteering now anyway, no?). You may get many rejections, but all it takes is one doctor willing to take a chance. You might ask your mom's friends for any personal contacts that might help you get your foot in the door.

 

[ivfmd]

Thank you so much. As a matter of fact I have tried to call some doctor's offices looking for mentors and for some shadowing opportunities however, when I call I am only able to speak with the secretary and they all tell me that they do not have such opportunities. Is there another way so that I would be able to speak with a physician without going through the secretary first. Also I have been told that I should just go to the hospital and walk around and when I see a physician just ask them if I could shadow them however I am not sure if that would be appropriate. What do you think about this? Any other suggestions that you may think of would be very helpful. Thank you again

I think if you are willing to work as a medical assistant, helping with patients in the office, you would be more in demand. Otherwise, selfish motives come into play and the doctors don't want to have extra work having someone to tag along and "babysit". But free labor is always appreciated. You have to ask yourself if you have the time commitment to work at least 6 months on a regular basis?

 

[xula]

I think if you are willing to work as a medical assistant, helping with patients in the office, you would be more in demand. Otherwise, selfish motives come into play and the doctors don't want to have extra work having someone to tag along and "babysit". But free labor is always appreciated. You have to ask yourself if you have the time commitment to work at least 6 months on a regular basis?

So do you think that I should just call again to some of the doctors and ask the secretary if the doctor would be willing to allow me to volunteer as a medical assistant.

 

[ivfmd]

So do you think that I should just call again to some of the doctors and ask the secretary if the doctor would be willing to allow me to volunteer as a medical assistant.

That would be your best bet. Younger doctors might be more open to this. They could even teach you how to draw blood if you're aggressive enough to learn. I had an aggressive student once apply for a medical assistant opening at my office. She was still in school, taking a full premed load, so I said NO. She didn't give up. She offered to volunteer and work for no pay. That's hard to turn down. She wound up working 100 hours throughtout the year, even on some weekends. She loved every minute of it and got to learn a lot and see a lot. She had a lot to write/talk about for her essay/interview. I wrote a stellar rec letter for her PA application. She actually decided against medical school and has now been happily accepted to her top choice PA school.

 

[xula]

Thank you much for giving me this idea. I will try to call around to see if a doctor is willing to give me a try. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Thank you again

That would be your best bet. Younger doctors might be more open to this. They could even teach you how to draw blood if you're aggressive enough to learn. I had an aggressive student once apply for a medical assistant opening at my office. She was still in school, taking a full premed load, so I said NO. She didn't give up. She offered to volunteer and work for no pay. That's hard to turn down. She wound up working 100 hours throughtout the year, even on some weekends. She loved every minute of it and got to learn a lot and see a lot. She had a lot to write/talk about for her essay/interview. I wrote a stellar rec letter for her PA application. She actually decided against medical school and has now been happily accepted to her top choice PA school.

 

[ivfmd]

Thank you much for giving me this idea. I will try to call around to see if a doctor is willing to give me a try. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Thank you again

If you're not having luck calling up offices, you might consider drafting a well-thought out letter. This is where your effort and dedictation come into play. Just the fact that you've been actively inquiring on this site shows you have a greater drive than the average college student. I encourage you not to give up.

 

[xula]

Thank you again. I was thinking of doing this because I see that many physicians have their address written on their website and do not put their phone numbers. So far I have sent out 5 e-mails. If I do not get a response by the end of the week, I will mail out a letter. Before I do would you be willing to read over the letter to make sure it is well written and thought out. Thank you again. You have been so helpful in my persuit to trying to find a mentor. Also someone had brought to my attention that I should take an EMT course to get better clinical exposure. I have been thinking about this if I do not get any luck finding a mentor. What do you think about this?
Thank you again

If you're not having luck calling up offices, you might consider drafting a well-thought out letter. This is where your effort and dedictation come into play. Just the fact that you've been actively inquiring on this site shows you have a greater drive than the average college student. I encourage you not to give up.