Shadowing a Physician

[ijaz94]

I am currently volunteering at a local hospital and this summer i would like to shadow a physician when im not volunteering. I was just curious about what i should be doing when im shadowing a doctor, should I be taking notes in a notebook or should i just walk around with him/her and ask questions when i need to? Thanks for the help!

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[Gigantron]

Pretty much the latter. No need to take notes.

 

[the duck]

Agreed. You don't want to take notes. you basically just walk around...you are literally the doctors shadow.

 

[sgtbrushes]

Taking notes is not only unnecessary, it is probably prohibited due to HIPAA regulations. Most Docs like to answer some questions, but it would be better to only ask questions when not with a patient (As pre-meds, we're woefully ignorant). Make sure you dress and act professionally; refer to the patients and the physician as Sir/ Ma'am. Good luck, have fun, and learn!

 

[torshi]

follow him/her that's it.

 

[docB]

Remember that you're not trying to actually learn medicine. You're there to get a feel for what the work of being a doctor is like, and whether or not you might want to do it.

To that end (while there aren't really any wrong questions) you will want to ask more questions like "How many patients do you see in a day?" and "What do you do when a patient has too many issues to take care of in one office visit?" and avoid questions like "Why did you prescribe medicine A rather than medicine B?"