Bad shadowing experience

[Columbia09]

I started shadowing a D.O today and it wasn't what I expected. First off let me just say that he delayed our shadowing twice already and now he told me he can only shadow for an hour a day and no more. The hospital is in the process of findig another D.O but I'm just upset about all the time wasted. I'm looking to do 20 hrs and I start school in late August so I don't think it's possible with him. All he did today was paper work and he let me go after only an hour. Anybody else have any bad experiences ?

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

That's a pretty awful shadowing experience, try shadowing your primary care physician.

 

[NurWollen]

I started shadowing a D.O today and it wasn't what I expected. First off let me just say that he delayed our shadowing twice already and now he told me he can only shadow for an hour a day and no more. The hospital is in the process of findig another D.O but I'm just upset about all the time wasted. I'm looking to do 20 hrs and I start school in late August so I don't think it's possible with him. All he did today was paper work and he let me go after only an hour. Anybody else have any bad experiences ?

A warning, perhaps?

 

[Columbia09]

That's a pretty awful shadowing experience, try shadowing your primary care physician.

They're all m.ds

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

They're all m.ds

For 90% of schools that's fine. Regardless, if you're very pent up just have him write you a letter and proceed to shadow one of your MDs. Quality of experience is by far more important.

 

[spleencakes]

For 90% of schools that's fine. Regardless, if you're very pent up just have him write you a letter and proceed to shadow one of your MDs. Quality of experience is by far more important.

+1

On top of this being a poor shadowing experience, it doesn't even sound like the first doc would write you a good letter, so it sounds like a double lose. If you really can't find another DO, go for the MD.

 

[darklabel]

For 90% of schools that's fine. Regardless, if you're very pent up just have him write you a letter and proceed to shadow one of your MDs. Quality of experience is by far more important.

I have to disagree.

A terrible experience does suck, but see if they can still write you a good letter describing you as a great applicant or even that your brief time together showed interest or whatever. Then you can also shadow an MD longer and hopefully have a better experience.

 

[Stagg737]

I've shadowed multiple physicians, both MD and DO and that sounds like the worst I've heard from anyone. I would try and find another doctor to shadow, all the people I've shadowed have let me go for the entire day which ends up being between 5-8 hours. Luckily I've had only good experiences with the physicians themselves, but I wouldn't let that experience totally deter you from taking the DO route if that is what you want to do. If you are applying DO make sure you look up the individual school's requirements. Some require a letter specifically from a DO and won't accept MD letters. Just make sure you do your research before applying.

 

[Columbia09]

What's a good number of doctors to shadow ? Did you put them all on your application ? ^

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I have to disagree.

A terrible experience does suck, but see if they can still write you a good letter describing you as a great applicant or even that your brief time together showed interest or whatever. Then you can also shadow an MD longer and hopefully have a better experience.

You just repeated what I said... almost word for word.

 

[chiddler]

I have to disagree.

A terrible experience does suck, but see if they can still write you a good letter describing you as a great applicant or even that your brief time together showed interest or whatever. Then you can also shadow an MD longer and hopefully have a better experience.

Unlikely to happen.

 

[HipChick]

Seriously? An hour? That's almost insulting as a premed. I'm sorry you wasted your time and it seems that he should have just been upfront. I guess feel out his demeanor when asking for a LoR and move on to someone who actually cares!

 

[Urnathok]

I wouldn't get too worked up about it; letting pre-meds shadow you won't be part of your job description as a doctor, so any amount of time you can work is entirely at the doctor's discretion.

That said, don't waste your time. If someone is too busy with other things to teach, move on and find someone who actually likes teaching. An anesthesiologist once told me, "Wellp, I'm not saying 'no,' but I'm running around so much that you're really not going to learn anything." That's true of a lot of them. Poke around until you get a bite.

I can't say I've had necessarily bad experiences, though my first time shadowing a FM internist got off to a rocky start because she sat down for what felt kind of like an interview first, and I had happened to get a poor night's sleep before that, so I ended up kind of blundering through a Q&A session. The rest was fascinating though, including a dementia patient who got me interested in psychiatry, so there's good and bad in everything.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I started shadowing a D.O today and it wasn't what I expected. First off let me just say that he delayed our shadowing twice already and now he told me he can only shadow for an hour a day and no more. The hospital is in the process of findig another D.O but I'm just upset about all the time wasted. I'm looking to do 20 hrs and I start school in late August so I don't think it's possible with him. All he did today was paper work and he let me go after only an hour. Anybody else have any bad experiences ?

That's really bad. If the guy/gal is genuinely nice, you should ask them to refer you to another DO. Otherwise, just move on.

 

[Columbia09]

Update: The hospital called me and said that a D.O will be returning the 18th but they suggest that I stay with him for now and that they could give me other things to do in the ER which he could add in his letter of rec. Another D.O called me up about shadowing in his private practice but I don't know if he would take me on to shadow him. I'll call him later today but if he agrees to shadow, should I leave the hospital ?

 

[CooIBreeze]

Update: The hospital called me and said that a D.O will be returning the 18th but they suggest that I stay with him for now and that they could give me other things to do in the ER which he could add in his letter of rec. Another D.O called me up about shadowing in his private practice but I don't know if he would take me on to shadow him. I'll call him later today but if he agrees to shadow, should I leave the hospital ?

It sounds like the D.O. you are currently shadowing is either too busy or uninterested. It really just depends on the type of physician you get. I have seen jaded physicians that have no interest in students and physicians who love teaching and allowing students to observe, so if the private practice D.O. seems genuinely interested in letting you shadow him for more than one hour a day (which honestly is very little time to actually get a feel for the routine of the profession) then I would say make the switch. However, if this is not the case and the private practice D.O. is likely going to be a repeat of the previous D.O., then I suppose it would make sense to wait for the D.O. arriving on the 18th. Hope this helps!

 

[TriagePreMed]

Update: The hospital called me and said that a D.O will be returning the 18th but they suggest that I stay with him for now and that they could give me other things to do in the ER which he could add in his letter of rec. Another D.O called me up about shadowing in his private practice but I don't know if he would take me on to shadow him. I'll call him later today but if he agrees to shadow, should I leave the hospital ?

I would move on. You have no guarantees on the person returning the 18th.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I started shadowing a D.O today and it wasn't what I expected. First off let me just say that he delayed our shadowing twice already and now he told me he can only shadow for an hour a day and no more. The hospital is in the process of findig another D.O but I'm just upset about all the time wasted. I'm looking to do 20 hrs and I start school in late August so I don't think it's possible with him. All he did today was paper work and he let me go after only an hour. Anybody else have any bad experiences ?

Not really, I was lucky to know of two MDs I shadowed. One I followed while he did rounds with medical students. Learned quite a bit.

However, I learned the most while shadowing this interventional cardiologist. Saw a few surgeries in person, was introduced to stress testing, stents, etc.

 

[Columbia09]

How much weight does a D.O letter hold anyway? Is it okay if it's just generic?

 

[darklabel]

You just repeated what I said... almost word for word.

Yeah, just realized that.

Maybe I'm just trying to pick a fight with you 😛

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Yeah, just realized that.

Maybe I'm just trying to pick a fight with you 😛

Come at me bro <3

 

[Columbia09]

How much weight does a D.O letter hold anyway? Is it okay if it's just generic?

Anybody ??? I'm starting to warm up to him though 🙂

 

[Columbia09]

anyone ???

 

[Columbia09]

For those who shadowed multiple doctors. Did you ask for LOR from all of them? How did you indicate on your app that you shadowed more than one doctor ?

 

[Amberofthemomen]

For 90% of schools that's fine. Regardless, if you're very pent up just have him write you a letter and proceed to shadow one of your MDs. Quality of experience is by far more important.

That's what I did.

I went and shadowed a DO for a day, he wrote me a letter, and now I'm focusing on shadowing some of the many MDs that live near me.

 

[Columbia09]

He wrote me a very personalized letter 🙂. Should hold a lot of weight in case a school is on the fence with me. SO some hope for people who think that they aren't having the best experience

 

[coolingglasses]

For those who shadowed multiple doctors. Did you ask for LOR from all of them? How did you indicate on your app that you shadowed more than one doctor ?

Use an entry to note shadowing. Utilize the space provided to indicate who and for how long.

 

[survivordo]

Update: The hospital called me and said that a D.O will be returning the 18th but they suggest that I stay with him for now and that they could give me other things to do in the ER which he could add in his letter of rec. Another D.O called me up about shadowing in his private practice but I don't know if he would take me on to shadow him. I'll call him later today but if he agrees to shadow, should I leave the hospital ?

I'm pretty surprised the hospital is being this receptive/proactive with you usually it's hard to even get a reply from them! Consider yourself lucky in that respect at least...

Survivor DO

 

[Stagg737]

For those who shadowed multiple doctors. Did you ask for LOR from all of them? How did you indicate on your app that you shadowed more than one doctor ?

I have shadowed 5 or 6 doctors, 2 of them were DOs. I am applying for the 3rd time (second time seriously) so shadowing them has been over the course of 3 years or so. I asked for letters from 3 of them (1 MD and both DOs) and also asked for one from another doctor who I didn't shadow but helped with some seminars. I have a ton of EC activities, so I didn't indicate shadowing stuff. But you can probably include it all as one activity and describe the various things you saw/learned from each of them.

A DO letter should hold just as much weight as an MD letter, especially at osteopathic schools. If you are applying to MD schools, getting an MD and a DO letter is better than just the DO one.