- What do I need to bring? Is a notebook/pen necessary?
No, notebook/pen is usually not necessary as other people have said. You may want to write any interesting patients you saw or things you learned when you get home, and definitely keep track of the days & hours you shadow as well - I did this when I shadowed.
- Is it appropriate to ask questions? I don't want to inundate the doc with questions, but I feel that not asking any questions would be a waste of the doc's time and my time.
Follow the doc's lead. If they ask if you have questions, by all means. Don't do it in front of a patient. Wait until you're one-on-one or in the doc's office before you ask questions, and be polite about it. Believe it or not, sometimes you may not have questions, because the doc does a good job of explaining what they are doing while they are doing it before you see the patient, or during the patient encounter. I think it's a good thing to ask questions - it definitely shows interest in their work and an intellectual curiosity to know more and understand what is going on.
- How much am I expected to understand what is going on? I have some hospital volunteering experience + bio major, but I doubt these help a whole lot in the hospital/clinical setting.
As other posters have said, it really depends on the doc you shadow. If they know what classes you've taken, they may take for granted you know a certain thing, or they may assume you know nothing and try to explain what they are doing in a way you can understand, or oversimplify things. Alternatively, you may impress them with what you know, but remember that the shadowing isn't about what you know or how smart you are, and most likely if you try to get into a contest with the doc about who knows more, you are going to lose. Stay humble, but don't play dumb, if you understand something, it's okay to ask further questions for clarification or to reinforce your understanding if the opportunity arises.
- How many times do you shadow one doctor before moving on to a different doctor/department?
That's really up to you. One doc I shadowed I was there for two weeks and wish I could have been there longer, since I saw a lot of patients who had led interesting lives, had great stories to tell, and fascinating pathophysiology going on. Another doc, I shadowed for two days, 8 hours a day, and felt like I got a lot out of the experience as well, and it was in a different specialty from the first one. It's really up to the doc how much they will allow you to shadow and how much time you have. Maybe someone else will have a general rule of thumb that is better. I'd say to just do as much as you want - if you find one doc you feel like you learn a lot from, try to get in as much time as you can, before finding a different doc/specialty to check out.
- Do you shadow the doc for the whole work day? A few hours? I'm suppose to start at 7 AM, but I have no idea when I'm leaving... lol.
I was kind of in this situation when I first shadowed. It's somewhat important to set up expectations with the doc when you initially contact them. If you really want "a day in the life" then you'll stay the entire time the doc stays, whether it is in the office, in the OR, in the clinic, etc., until they are done with their paperwork, phone calls and dictations. It's really up to you though. You may see the last patient and the doc says, "Ok, you can go home now, I just have to do some dictations, that's pretty boring." Ask if you can stay, you have no idea how to do a dictation anyway, even though you'll learn later on, but it wouldn't hurt to get exposure to it now and even ask any more questions you have about the day. Don't be in a rush to get home.. that may not send the right message you want to send.
Lastly, thank the doctor and any other medical staff or administrative staff, as appropriate, for giving you the opportunity to shadow. You are getting a pretty good benefit out of the experience, be thankful for it.