cardiologist shadowing

Started by Doctormo24
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Doctormo24

Doctormo24

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TMRW will be my first day shadowing the Chief of Cardiology at the local childrens hospital. They told me to bring a pair of sneakers in case I am asked to change into scrubs.

My question is should I wear a dress shirt tucked in with a pants and dressy shoes? And what sort of questions should I ask him if he asks?
 
I wouldn't wear uncomfortable dressy shoes. When I shadowed I wore comfortable shoes that weren't tennis shoes. But yes and the shirt and dress pants.

Its so nerve racking doing this sort of thing for the first time!!! Have fun🙂

As far as questions go...just ask what you are genuinely curious about. I was so nervous when I first started talking with my doc but once I asked a few questions the conversation went great
 
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I would wear a dress shirt tucked into khakis and a pair of sneakers. If there's anything I've learned about doctors it's that they walk FAST. no point in killing your feet, and I doubt this person will judge you for wanting to be comfortable.

What questions you should ask depends on what your concerns are. How many hours per week does he work? Is he able to balance his work and family life? If he had to do it again, would he still choose to go into medicine? How did he become interested in cardiology? Ask whatever you like 🙂
 
The best is to look for semiformal to formal dress shoes but make sure you're comfortable in them. Yes to the dress shirt and slacks. As for questions, as Doc Henry answered, stick with questions you are generaly interested about. You can also ask him about his career path, tips for you before entering medical school, those types of things =) Good luck!
 
armybound said:
I would wear a dress shirt tucked into khakis and a pair of sneakers. If there's anything I've learned about doctors it's that they walk FAST. no point in killing your feet, and I doubt this person will judge you for wanting to be comfortable.

What questions you should ask depends on what your concerns are. How many hours per week does he work? Is he able to balance his work and family life? If he had to do it again, would he still choose to go into medicine? How did he become interested in cardiology? Ask whatever you like 🙂
Click to expand...

The last doctor I shadowed was over a foot taller than me and he walked really fast. Which meant that I literally had to run to keep up with him. I had on boots at one point and he openly made fun of me for wearing such impractical shoes (whatever, I like them, but that's neither here nor there.) So dress nicely but keep an eye to comfort.

Ask what you want want to know (within reason). If you want to know about working hours, go for it. If you're curious what a specific instrument is, go ahead. If you want to know about his relationship with his wife...wait, no, that's a bad idea. But you get the gist. 😛
 
It's not the end of the world if you end up wearing uncomfortable dress shoes the whole time. I stood through a 3 hour autposy the other day in hellish shoes and I was fine... You'll figure out [as I have finally figured out after almost a whole year of medical school] that the key is to buy shoes that are not dress shoes, but not running shoes either.... So they look OK but don't kill you.

EDIT: If you're a girl, don't wear heels.... I'm a guy, so even the most uncomfortable dress shoes are OK for a long period of time...
 
ssquared said:
The last doctor I shadowed was over a foot taller than me and he walked really fast. Which meant that I literally had to run to keep up with him. I had on boots at one point and he openly made fun of me for wearing such impractical shoes (whatever, I like them, but that's neither here nor there.) So dress nicely but keep and eye to comfort.

Ask what you want want to know (within reason). If you want to know about working hours, go for it. If you're curious what a specific instrument is, go ahead. If you want to know about his relationship with his wife...wait, no, that's a bad idea. But you get the gist. 😛
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I've shadowed guys 5-6 inches shorter than me and I can hardly keep up with them. they don't like wasting time on trivial things like walking, apparently.
 
Whenever I've shadowed I just wore white tennis shoes (comfort) with khakis, a decent shirt tucked in, and a white lab coat. Some doctors I've shadowed (last was an interventional cardiologist) actually said to just wear scrubs and my lab coat.
 
*off topic*

tmrw = tomorrow

Sorry, the confusion was bothering me. I spend too much time on the internet.
 
nlax30 said:
Whenever I've shadowed I just wore white tennis shoes (comfort) with khakis, a decent shirt tucked in, and a white lab coat. Some doctors I've shadowed (last was an interventional cardiologist) actually said to just wear scrubs and my lab coat.
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For anyone reading this: be careful with the lab coat idea. Most lab coats are long [like "attending" white coats]. There are some services here where even the residents have to wear short coats...and that includes the cardiac service... So I would find out if you'll look stupid in a long white coat first. I'd personally bring a short one if you are told to bring a white coat. It's not like anyone would care....you just might look silly.
 
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kind reminded me my first time shadowing an interventional cardiologist. I had no idea what he was poking at. I couldn't even recognized the stenosis of an artery let along recognize the artery itself. But with time, you will learn all the anatomic terms, techniques, and eventually the pharms.
if your guy is in interventional cards, i doubt he'll let you in the lab without change into scrubs. so, i wouldn't even worry about the outfit. The chances are, he'll find you a nurse to get you a key to a locker room and a clean set of scrubs. You'll be covered head to toe before you can start shadowing his work. BTW, if you want healthy babies in the future, i suggest you wear lead apron like everyone else in the lab. 🙂
 
Dookter said:
For anyone reading this: be careful with the lab coat idea. Most lab coats are long [like "attending" white coats]. There are some services here where even the residents have to wear short coats...and that includes the cardiac service... So I would find out if you'll look stupid in a long white coat first. I'd personally bring a short one if you are told to bring a white coat. It's not like anyone would care....you just might look silly.
Click to expand...

True, I should've added a little to my post about you may want to check before hand (if you have the chance of course) to see what's appropriate. Just from my own experience of shadowing in 4 different hospitals and different specialties, I was fine in a long lab coat. All my shadowing was done in hospitals in the central florida area, and one in Alabama, so take it for what it's worth.

You're pretty safe going with some decent pants and shirt though. If you do end up spending time in the OR they may have some scrubs for you to change into there.
 
carry a really onery mean cat that will bite the hell out of you at random times...and when the cat sinks his fangs into your arm, and your brain starts to react to the pain, just ask the doctor that you are shadowing whatever weird question pops into your mind....the doc will think that you are odd but interesting. Probably will write you a good recommendation. Just my two cents. Good luck with this.

Searun
 
armybound said:
I've shadowed guys 5-6 inches shorter than me and I can hardly keep up with them. they don't like wasting time on trivial things like walking, apparently.
Click to expand...

Oh goodness, no. Imagine how much time they must gain by running everywhere? I mean, it must be like 10 seconds each time they see another patient, so over the course of the day they must have gotten back around 2 minutes. And we all know that 2 minutes can make or break a person.
 
yobynaes said:
kind reminded me my first time shadowing an interventional cardiologist. I had no idea what he was poking at. I couldn't even recognized the stenosis of an artery let along recognize the artery itself. But with time, you will learn all the anatomic terms, techniques, and eventually the pharms.
if your guy is in interventional cards, i doubt he'll let you in the lab without change into scrubs. so, i wouldn't even worry about the outfit. The chances are, he'll find you a nurse to get you a key to a locker room and a clean set of scrubs. You'll be covered head to toe before you can start shadowing his work. BTW, if you want healthy babies in the future, i suggest you wear lead apron like everyone else in the lab. 🙂
Click to expand...
this is going to make me look stupid, but the first time I watched abdominal surgery I was like "WTF is all that yellow stuff?"

I had never seen/heard of mesentery for some reason.

But it's a good learning experience 🙂
 
Doctormo24 said:
TMRW will be my first day shadowing the Chief of Cardiology at the local childrens hospital. They told me to bring a pair of sneakers in case I am asked to change into scrubs.

My question is should I wear a dress shirt tucked in with a pants and dressy shoes? And what sort of questions should I ask him if he asks?
Click to expand...

I've only read a few of the other responses. Here are my two cents:

Dress professionally. It's better the doctor (and nurses) think you are serious about medicine than not serious enough. That being said, I think you have some flexibility.

I would wear a tie. You can always take it off. Shirt tucked in, definitely.

Wear slacks, though I don't think they have to be black.

Do you have some drivers or slip-on loafers? They would be more comfortable. If you are going to do a lot of walking and changing into scrubs, you'll have your sneakers.

Lastly, please don't wear white socks!😉
 
so i just got back from my shadowing and let me tell you WOW!


what an amazing, wonderful, and fascinating experience it was. The doctor was amazing, he explained all the different procedures that he was doing, was so down to earth and friendly, easy to talk to. We were jamming to 311 and John Legend during the surgery. He was trying out a new procedure that has only been attempted 9 times in the US. He invited me back and said I could come anytime. by the way, this is the Chief of Cardiology that I am shadowing. I got to scrub in for the first time and it felt good in those scrubs rather than watching all dressed up! they even invited me to eat lunch with everyone i just felt so welcomed and at ease
 
are the nurses Hot ?? j.k that is good keep up the good work.
 
Just out of curiosity, how did you get involved with this? Did you just email random doctors or do you have contacts at the hospital?
 
curlywurly said:
Just out of curiosity, how did you get involved with this? Did you just email random doctors or do you have contacts at the hospital?
Click to expand...

I e-mailed about 12 doctors randomly, 5 responded saying they would happy to have me shadow and 1 said no just because he got a new position and would not be in that many hours.

The really interesting part about this cardiologist is that he actually performed heart surgery on my younger brother back in june of 92. i told him and he actually remembered as he said he does not get man tetralogy of fallot (which my younger brother had) cases, so that was really neat that he remembered.
 
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