Shadowing (help and tips??)

[docwei88]

I will be a sophomore in high school this coming year, and I want to shadow next summer to just see what I will be in for and simply for the hours, too.

Is it too early? I have heard that it is virtually useless for me since I don't understand a lot yet. Should I wait til I enter college?

On another note, if it is NOT too early, how should I go about asking? What should I prepare? What kind of doctor should I def shadow before college/while in college?

Thank you!


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[Hillo]

The earlier, the better.

The purpose is to see the types of medical careers and environments... they should know that you don't understand much.
I wouldn't bring anything unless you think the answers to your questions will need note-taking.

 

[superpom_7]

It's not useless, persay. It's not too early, but it probably wouldn't matter if you did it now because you'll shadow and get clinical hours in college, and Medical Schools do not care about High School. Do you have an idea of what specialty you're interested in? I.e. oncology, neurology, dermatology, cardiology, surgery, pediatrics, etc. You could try asking your physician if you can shadow him/her. Just ask politely and tell them why you would like to shadow them. If you know what you're interested in you could try a shadow a doctor in that specialty.

 

[hippo_crates]

I will be a sophomore in high school this coming year, and I want to shadow next summer to just see what I will be in for and simply for the hours, too.

Is it too early? I have heard that it is virtually useless for me since I don't understand a lot yet. Should I wait til I enter college?

On another note, if it is NOT too early, how should I go about asking? What should I prepare? What kind of doctor should I def shadow before college/while in college?

Thank you!


Posted using SDN Mobile

I'm in high school as well and am shadowing at my hospital and I personally don't really care that it doesn't count for anything in the future, I'm only doing it because I'm interested in medicine and want more exposure. If you want to do it, that's great but I wouldn't do it just for the hours cus it won't be enjoyable.

 

[SpeedySavior]

I started as a junior, I had the opportunity to shadow a Cardiologist, that entire year. My senior year, I had the chance to shadow an internalist. The cons of shadowing, for me at least, was Balancing it with my honor and AP classes. It got a little stressful, but all in all, I think it's worth it. The best pro is obviously the experience. It's fun, you learn a lot, and you really get answers to questions you don't even know you have. Starting early is probably great, but I was happy with startin as a junior. Anyway, good luck to you!

 

[Dreamstoo]

The earlier, the better.

The purpose is to see the types of medical careers and environments... they should know that you don't understand much.
I wouldn't bring anything unless you think the answers to your questions will need note-taking.

Totally agree, I shadowed and did research for a physician in high school. I did it 20-30 hours a week during the summer before senior year with some HS classmates and other high school students/few pre med students. It was by far the the best experience I had in high school and it was a really fun summer. It was also a professional environment and required business casual attire on a daily basis. Thinking back on it, it was one of the turning points where I started to really like medicine as a field.

Volunteering in a hospital can be a great experience too. Back in high school, I usually did 4 hours of volunteering Saturday afternoons during the school year and the summer. Met some great people and we were given different tasks nearly every week. To come to think of it, I know two of them just finished their first year of medical school. One of them went to a top 20 MD school too. We all enjoyed volunteering and it was a great way to make friends outside of school.