Advice on shadowing?

[sirkelb]

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Okay here's my dilemma, i've heard that shadowing is a good thing to start out with in terms of seeing if you really want to become a doctor, but i don't even know where to start.

How exactly do i approach a doctor on the subject of shadowing? Do i call them, email them, or have someone set it up for me(A few of my relatives work closely with doctors).

Should I be asking doctors working in hospitals or doctors who have a private practice?

Help would be nice, thanks.

 

[TheFamilyDoc]

Okay here's my dilemma, i've heard that shadowing is a good thing to start out with in terms of seeing if you really want to become a doctor, but i don't even know where to start.

How exactly do i approach a doctor on the subject of shadowing? Do i call them, email them, or have someone set it up for me(A few of my relatives work closely with doctors).

Should I be asking doctors working in hospitals or doctors who have a private practice?

Help would be nice, thanks.

I guess ill take this one😀 Contact your personal doctor and Im sure he/she will be happy to let you shadow.

 

[Catalystik]

The option of contacting a doc through a relative working for them is a good one too. Ideally, you'd eventually shadow a few types of physician, so an ER doc or hospitalist, surgeon or subspecialist, and definitely a primary care physician (Internal Med, Peds, Family Med) should be on the list.

 

[Practitioner]

Secretaries/admin assistants are good too, you can call and ask them what they think the doc will say and what best way to ask is.

 

[s1lver]

If there's a med school near your area, send a mass email asking politely if you could shadow them or if they can refer you to someone. This is what I did when I was looking for a research gig - sent out exactly 57 emails and like 15 or 18 sent a response. I would imagine it's the same thing when asking to shadow.