Approaching Doctor's for possible shadowing opportunity

[JillMMed]

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Hi Guys,

I was wondering what would be the best way to approach a doctor for a possible shadowing opportunity? I work at two major hospitals( both Ivy league teaching hospitals). I work in the Emergency Dept at one and doing a clinical research internship at another one. When I work in the ER sometimes I am able to see some interesting things but most of the times im not able to because I have my own patients to deal with. But I seem to have a lot of down time when I go to work in the ER a lot ( at least 2-3 hours for a 8 hour shift) , So I was thinking maybe I should talk to the ER residents and attending and let them know that i'm a college student interested in medicine and would love to see a few procedure they may perform on my down time . But i'm not sure what they would say.

One time I did get to see orthopedic resident do a hip traction , and the nurse and the doctor let me help them move the patient afterwards. It was soo cool. But that's the only thing I seen so far and that was on the weekend when none of the big mangers where there and It was the end of my shift and I had no patients. I seen a doctor put sutures in one of my patients , but that was pretty bland.

I feel like I should take advantage of my situation since I work at a level one trauma hospital in the ER, but i'm not sure how to do it. There's tons of interesting cases going on in the ER, but I love to see what they do, but I don't want to just walk in the room and get kicked out( that would be embarrassing) and I don't want my manager to say what are you doing if I was watching a procedure being performed.

I'm really interested in emergency medicine and surgery I see surgeons all the time as well as ER docs , but I don't know what to say to them. Especially to the surgeons because they always seem so busy and I don't want to disturb them. But I feel like if I ask them , maybe they will say yes. Especially the residents, since someone is actually interested in their work,etc.. and they would get to explain stuff , kinda make them feel like an attending in a way.

How should I approach this situation? Because I do work there , so there wouldn't any health stuff I have to worry about. Also I don;t think there would be much of a liability issues, since I wouldn't be doing anything . But just watch, nursing students get to do it all the time. So why not an employee , whose also interested in the field?

 

[phikapdoctor]

The last two doctors said yes right away.
1. I walked up to the O.R. Board, there was a surgeon there and I just told him that I was a premed interested in surgery. I asked if I could start shadowing him, he said he had a couple interesting surgeries next week, and that would give me enough time to fill out all paper work. He was an ENT. He wa super nice, and I have been shadowing him for a couple weeks.
2. I walked into the E.D. Via the ambulance entrance and shouted are there and doctors here that wouldn't mid a future medical student shadowing them for the next couple weeks. Two physicians were close by laughed and said they have never seen that approach before. They both said that would be fine and I shadowed them for a little while.
Haha goes to show there is no proper way to ask for shadowing opportunities.

 

[sunflower18]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering what would be the best way to approach a doctor for a possible shadowing opportunity? I work at two major hospitals( both Ivy league teaching hospitals). I work in the Emergency Dept at one and doing a clinical research internship at another one. When I work in the ER sometimes I am able to see some interesting things but most of the times im not able to because I have my own patients to deal with. But I seem to have a lot of down time when I go to work in the ER a lot ( at least 2-3 hours for a 8 hour shift) , So I was thinking maybe I should talk to the ER residents and attending and let them know that i'm a college student interested in medicine and would love to see a few procedure they may perform on my down time . But i'm not sure what they would say.

One time I did get to see orthopedic resident do a hip traction , and the nurse and the doctor let me help them move the patient afterwards. It was soo cool. But that's the only thing I seen so far and that was on the weekend when none of the big mangers where there and It was the end of my shift and I had no patients. I seen a doctor put sutures in one of my patients , but that was pretty bland.

I feel like I should take advantage of my situation since I work at a level one trauma hospital in the ER, but i'm not sure how to do it. There's tons of interesting cases going on in the ER, but I love to see what they do, but I don't want to just walk in the room and get kicked out( that would be embarrassing) and I don't want my manager to say what are you doing if I was watching a procedure being performed.

I'm really interested in emergency medicine and surgery I see surgeons all the time as well as ER docs , but I don't know what to say to them. Especially to the surgeons because they always seem so busy and I don't want to disturb them. But I feel like if I ask them , maybe they will say yes. Especially the residents, since someone is actually interested in their work,etc.. and they would get to explain stuff , kinda make them feel like an attending in a way.

How should I approach this situation? Because I do work there , so there wouldn't any health stuff I have to worry about. Also I don;t think there would be much of a liability issues, since I wouldn't be doing anything . But just watch, nursing students get to do it all the time. So why not an employee , whose also interested in the field?

I tried the, "I'm an employee! Can I shadow you while my work is slow?" approach, and some higher up in the department caught wind of it and complained to my supervisor that I shouldn't be shadowing while on the clock. It was a misunderstanding, as part of my work responsibilities involved shadowing a few particular physicians and procedures, so I assumed that any shadowing was fair game. My supervisor didn't mind that I had made this mistake, but I agree with the person who complained in that it is inappropriate to shadow during work hours unless it is part of your work.

You could ask one of the ER physicians if you can shadow him/her sometime, and then come in at a time when you are not working to shadow so that it is not during your paid work shift. That way, your manager won't care, and you'll get the experience you're hoping for.

As for ways to ask -- all of my shadowing has been coordinated via email. If you're an employee, do you have access to the email addresses of the physicians? That might be a good way to get a hold of them.

 

[mzarrowsmith]

Why is it relevant that they are "Ivy League" teaching hospitals? Have you ever heard anyone say that they work at a "Big 10 teaching hospital" or a "PAC-12 teaching hospital"?

Regarding your question, if you want to ask someone to allow you to shadow them, then ask them to allow you to shadow them. There's no magic involved. Write an email that is substantially briefer than your original post or talk to them in person when they don't look swamped.

 

[Geebeejay]

The last two doctors said yes right away.
1. I walked up to the O.R. Board, there was a surgeon there and I just told him that I was a premed interested in surgery. I asked if I could start shadowing him, he said he had a couple interesting surgeries next week, and that would give me enough time to fill out all paper work. He was an ENT. He wa super nice, and I have been shadowing him for a couple weeks.
2. I walked into the E.D. Via the ambulance entrance and shouted are there and doctors here that wouldn't mid a future medical student shadowing them for the next couple weeks. Two physicians were close by laughed and said they have never seen that approach before. They both said that would be fine and I shadowed them for a little while.
Haha goes to show there is no proper way to ask for shadowing opportunities.

Lol you did this? I woulda thought you were crazy.

Honestly dude, just talk to them....ask them just like any human asks another human for anything. Doctors are people too, you know. There's no trick to it, and since you're already coworkers, it should be even easier.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

Lol you did this? I woulda thought you were crazy.

Honestly dude, just talk to them....ask them just like any human asks another human for anything. Doctors are people too, you know. There's no trick to it, and since you're already coworkers, it should be even easier.

Yeeeaaahhh that may have been a bit awkward.

 

[JillMMed]

I think I do have access to the physicians email address. Yeah I think your right about doing it when I'm not on the clock so my managers couldn't really say anything to me then.

 

[JillMMed]

I tried the, "I'm an employee! Can I shadow you while my work is slow?" approach, and some higher up in the department caught wind of it and complained to my supervisor that I shouldn't be shadowing while on the clock. It was a misunderstanding, as part of my work responsibilities involved shadowing a few particular physicians and procedures, so I assumed that any shadowing was fair game. My supervisor didn't mind that I had made this mistake, but I agree with the person who complained in that it is inappropriate to shadow during work hours unless it is part of your work.

You could ask one of the ER physicians if you can shadow him/her sometime, and then come in at a time when you are not working to shadow so that it is not during your paid work shift. That way, your manager won't care, and you'll get the experience you're hoping for.

As for ways to ask -- all of my shadowing has been coordinated via email. If you're an employee, do you have access to the email addresses of the physicians? That might be a good way to get a hold of them.

I think I do have access to the physicians email address. Yeah I think your right about doing it when I'm not on the clock so my managers couldn't really say anything to me then.

 

[phikapdoctor]

Lol you did this? I woulda thought you were crazy.

Honestly dude, just talk to them....ask them just like any human asks another human for anything. Doctors are people too, you know. There's no trick to it, and since you're already coworkers, it should be even easier.

Haha yeah I was over it, It was either a hit or miss. I had no affiliation with the hospital Pre shadowing so there was nothing to lose and all to gain 😉