Hey, I need tips from people. All opinions are welcome.
I just contacted our brigade surgeon through the help of my boss. My brigade surgeon actually hooked me up with the program director in charge of the family practice residency at one of the Army Big 4 Med Centers. He's seemingly pretty high up there in term of influence and connections. It's a real possibility that I could be shadowing this guy for 8-9 weeks. A raving LOR from him would go a long way in my medical school application.
What do I need to do to impress?
Read some material related to his specialty, medicine in general, public policy, something medical-related in the news etc. Go online through your library and read some medical journal article in his specialty. Ask him what he thinks of xyz. Be prepared to have an opinion and a, more importantly, a reason why you think that way. I think the main thing to demonstrate is intellectual curiosity. You aren't going to have special medical knowledge, nor will the doc expect you to have it. The physician I shadowed would ask me things occasionally, and I knew about 5% of what he was talking about when it was specific. This does not preclude you from asking relevant questions. Questions demonstrate interest. Don't just sit and nod your head when they are talking to you. And contrary to previous advice, don't be afraid to ask questions you perceive as "not good" questions. You would be surprised, some of the questions you think are dumb, often have very interesting and counter-intuitive answers. Put yourself in a child-like state, ask why's and how's.
99% of people that shadow will show up on time, be well-dressed, etc. Most people shadowing are ambitious people who have their **** together, at a basic functioning level. You have to do something that will make you stand out. Most of the previous advice given will not make you stand out, it's simply the bare minimum to not be remembered poorly. The question was "how to impress a shadowed doc" not, "how to a blend into the sea of other pre-meds that shadow docs." If you are looking to stand-out, you have to consciously decide you will do so, and take action. My shadowing experience consisted of me sitting in the doc's office for about 30 minutes before we would go on patient consults and watch operations. During this time, we talked about medical legislation, medical topics in the news, medical ethics, amongst other things. I'm fortunate that my doc wanted to talk and engage with me. I ended up getting a raving LOR and a phone call from him to the Dean of Admissions. Part of all of this, though, was a function of how well our personalities clicked.
