Shadowing during summers?

[swimmergirl96]

Are medical students allowed to shadow during their breaks? And does it have to be approved by your school? I tried looking it up but was unable to find anything in the handbook of my school regarding policy?

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[DrZoidbergDO]

What your school doesn't know can't hurt them

 

[mkeb21]

Hi, I am also trying to shadow during my break and found that the clinic I want to shadow at (know some doctors there) charges students to shadow. I thought this was a bit strange but wasn't sure if other people were running into this and if its a new thing health systems are doing?

 

[Dr_Jan_I_Tor]

My school says no, something to do with malpractice insurance not covering us yet and that as a med student you could be considered "part of the care team" and dragged into a lawsuit.

Seems super unlikely to happen but yeah. I'd check.

I advise you to just enjoy your summer though; if you're trying to pick a specialty, that's what rotations are for

 

[swimmergirl96]

Hi, I am also trying to shadow during my break and found that the clinic I want to shadow at (know some doctors there) charges students to shadow. I thought this was a bit strange but wasn't sure if other people were running into this and if its a new thing health systems are doing?

That’s really weird! I haven’t heard of that before.

 

[swimmergirl96]

My school says no, something to do with malpractice insurance not covering us yet and that as a med student you could be considered "part of the care team" and dragged into a lawsuit.

Seems super unlikely to happen but yeah. I'd check.

I advise you to just enjoy your summer though; if you're trying to pick a specialty, that's what rotations are for

I kind of understand where they are coming from but at that same time if you’re just shadowing you’re name should be on any of the charts so I don’t understand how you could be on the care team

 

[Dr_Jan_I_Tor]

I kind of understand where they are coming from but at that same time if you’re just shadowing you’re name should be on any of the charts so I don’t understand how you could be on the care team

I'm sure a patient could tell their lawyer you were present, even if your name isn't on a chart.

Something may have happened *one* time and now the school is covering their butts. Who knows. Either way, it's not worth getting in trouble with your admin for something that isn't going to help your residency apps.

 

[annoyedpsychiatrist]

generally the medical student is not considered part of the care team as they are not giving a diagnosis/prescribing treatment so the risk of them being sued would be minimal at best if theyre just simply shadowing. On clinicals, lets say a medical student was in the OR and the surgeon let them do a portion of the surgery and they messed up. The lawyer will go after the surgeon, not the medical student in debt making no money. Plus the fault likely would be directed at the surgeon as they are supposed to have the experience necessary to prevent these things from happening, whereas a medical student is assumed to have limited experience/training and is under the direction of someone else.

most doctors dont charge med students to shadow but many schools do pay preceptors for clinical rotations.