Best specialties to shadow?

[sarahg]

I know this ultimately comes down to personal interest, but I figure some specialties would allow for more observation by the shadower than others. I'm interested in peds and its subspecialties (especially infectious disease, psych, and EM), psych, ob-gyn, derm, and EM, less so in the surgical specialties. I figure psych and ob-gyn are probably less fun to shadow because of the personal nature, patients might not want extra people in the room. Which of those would be best in terms of being able to observe most of the patient interaction?

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[Mattabet]

I volunteered in an ED for a bit, that was kinda neat because there were several different patients going at once, and one more miscellaneous person running around among docs, nurses, and techs was not too big a deal.

The "best" academic shadowing I did was under a pathologist. They're not as boring or antisocial as you think, I got to look at a bunch of slides and talk through patient diagnoses, and it's easy to tag along where a pathologist goes; no patients to offend.

Given that it's shadowing, and a chance to see branches of medicine that you might not otherwise consider, it might be nice to try to shadow a specialty that you wouldn't ordinarily consider. You don't know until you've tried it (or, in this case, watched someone else try it, I suppose).

 

[Stratego]

With Peds you'll be fine for everything except maybe a teen's first pelvic exam. I shadowed a GI specialist and had no trouble being present for endoscopies, though. Consider Family Medicine if you can do it. A lot will be Peds, and older patients don't seem to mind being educational. Derm and most of EM don't have too many privacy issues.

 

[johncalvin]

You may want to check about a hospitals immunization requirements, etc., before you call a physician who routinely visits patients in a hospital.

 

[pietachok]

I know people disagree with me, but as someone who has spent a significant portion of her life as a patient and inpatient, I strongly encourage you to actually do a job rather than just shadowing. Whether you volunteer or work for money, it is just more ethical. You learn the same things as you do just following around the doctors "shadowing" BUT you also learn the feeling of personal responsibility for and relationship with the patients. I particularly do not find it appropriate to shadow in pediatrics inpatient clinics for this reason.

I do not think it is the ideal situation for patients when there is a shadowing pre-med, b/c they can feel gawked at. Indeed, if you've ever been presented to a swarm of med students during rounds, even that is enough to make one feel like an object and not so kind towards the gawkers. Even though patients are often asked if it is ok for the shadower to observe, the doctor is in a position of authority, and I know many patients who have said "ok" b/c they felt uncomfortable telling the doctor "no," particularly if there is an additional disparity in authority such as a major age difference b/t the dr. and patient as in peds.

I find GI incredible for exposure b/c it is far more interesting than I believe people expect, and I think the interaction with patients is quite unique. Individuals with severe GI issues find their illness taboo to discuss--it's not like having breast cancer--they're often embarrassed. In the GI office, you can feel just how relieving it is for many of them to be able to openly discuss their illness and finally be able to receive advice. For some of them, when that exam room door is closed, it is the only time they can really find that openness and comfort. Plus, GI has procedural and surgical aspects...not all "personal" fields will give you quite the exposure to procedures.

I know this ultimately comes down to personal interest, but I figure some specialties would allow for more observation by the shadower than others. I'm interested in peds and its subspecialties (especially infectious disease, psych, and EM), psych, ob-gyn, derm, and EM, less so in the surgical specialties. I figure psych and ob-gyn are probably less fun to shadow because of the personal nature, patients might not want extra people in the room. Which of those would be best in terms of being able to observe most of the patient interaction?

 

[TexasPhysician]

I know this ultimately comes down to personal interest, but I figure some specialties would allow for more observation by the shadower than others. I'm interested in peds and its subspecialties (especially infectious disease, psych, and EM), psych, ob-gyn, derm, and EM, less so in the surgical specialties. I figure psych and ob-gyn are probably less fun to shadow because of the personal nature, patients might not want extra people in the room. Which of those would be best in terms of being able to observe most of the patient interaction?

Different doctors will let you observe more. It isn't specialty specific.

Know that child psychiatry is typically a psych subspecialty. You don't typically go through a peds residency first. There may be a couple preliminary programs through peds, but definitely not common.

 

[MedicineMike]

I am looking to shadow an well-known/well respected OB-GYN who is a family friend of mine. Has anyone shadowed an ob-gyn and had any problems with it? I think it would definitely be difficult to shadow during outpatient exams, etc.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I am looking to shadow an well-known/well respected OB-GYN who is a family friend of mine. Has anyone shadowed an ob-gyn and had any problems with it? I think it would definitely be difficult to shadow during outpatient exams, etc.

Are you male? If so, you may be asked to leave by many women. I shadowed a gyn oncologist, so while I wasn't outpatient often, I was frequently asked to wait outside when I was in clinic.

It partly depends on how cool your family friend is though. If he introduces you as Premed MedicineMike, you are going to have difficulty getting in on exams. If he introduces you as colleague Dr. MedicineMike, you won't have many problems at all. The ob/gyn residents at my school introduce medical students as Dr. ......... to eliminate problems. It works. Not sure how ethical that is, but if it get me a better education, ethical can kiss my ***.

 

[jtimmer1]

Ortho is fun.

 

[Mattabet]

Not sure how ethical that is, but if it get me a better education, ethical can kiss my ***.

I believe this is a word for word translation of what Pandora said right before taking the lid off. 🙂

 

[PremedIowa]

GI is definitely an enjoyable specialty to shadow, especially on hospital rounds. The procedures are cool, but they often become repetitive.

 

[mic2377]

I personally like surgery or anesthesiology. I am a very "hands-on" person and love spending time in the OR. The Dr. also likes have me around, since I already have a considerable amount of medical knowledge and can talk at length with him about procedures.

When being introduced to patients, I am also fortunate to be introduced as "paramedic student." Already being a health professional in some capacity works to assuage patient fears, and I have never had a patient refuse to consent to my observation.

It is also nice to have considerable healthcare experience, since I occasionally get to help out with procedures that I am legally allowed to assist with 🙂 Good bedside manner is also important. Too many pre-meds are just really awkward!!!!

 

[TexasPhysician]

I personally like surgery or anesthesiology. I am a very "hands-on" person and love spending time in the OR. The Dr. also likes have me around, since I already have a considerable amount of medical knowledge and can talk at length with him about procedures.

When being introduced to patients, I am also fortunate to be introduced as "paramedic student." Already being a health professional in some capacity works to assuage patient fears, and I have never had a patient refuse to consent to my observation.

It is also nice to have considerable healthcare experience, since I occasionally get to help out with procedures that I am legally allowed to assist with 🙂 Good bedside manner is also important. Too many pre-meds are just really awkward!!!!

haha. Stroke your own ego much?

 

[sarahg]

I know people disagree with me, but as someone who has spent a significant portion of her life as a patient and inpatient, I strongly encourage you to actually do a job rather than just shadowing. Whether you volunteer or work for money, it is just more ethical. You learn the same things as you do just following around the doctors "shadowing" BUT you also learn the feeling of personal responsibility for and relationship with the patients. I particularly do not find it appropriate to shadow in pediatrics inpatient clinics for this reason.

I do not think it is the ideal situation for patients when there is a shadowing pre-med, b/c they can feel gawked at. Indeed, if you've ever been presented to a swarm of med students during rounds, even that is enough to make one feel like an object and not so kind towards the gawkers. Even though patients are often asked if it is ok for the shadower to observe, the doctor is in a position of authority, and I know many patients who have said "ok" b/c they felt uncomfortable telling the doctor "no," particularly if there is an additional disparity in authority such as a major age difference b/t the dr. and patient as in peds.

I find GI incredible for exposure b/c it is far more interesting than I believe people expect, and I think the interaction with patients is quite unique. Individuals with severe GI issues find their illness taboo to discuss--it's not like having breast cancer--they're often embarrassed. In the GI office, you can feel just how relieving it is for many of them to be able to openly discuss their illness and finally be able to receive advice. For some of them, when that exam room door is closed, it is the only time they can really find that openness and comfort. Plus, GI has procedural and surgical aspects...not all "personal" fields will give you quite the exposure to procedures.

I definitely understand what you're saying, and I plan to get as much clinical exposure as I can through volunteering. I definitely wouldn't want any patient to feel gawked at by me. But my school has a mentor program where they set us up with a person in the career of our choice, so I'd like to take advantage of this by picking a specialty that I'm interested in and that I can shadow without making the patients feel uncomfortable.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I definitely understand what you're saying, and I plan to get as much clinical exposure as I can through volunteering. I definitely wouldn't want any patient to feel gawked at by me. But my school has a mentor program where they set us up with a person in the career of our choice, so I'd like to take advantage of this by picking a specialty that I'm interested in and that I can shadow without making the patients feel uncomfortable.

If I were you, I would choose something besides general surgery, general IM, general pediatrics, general psych, ob/gyn, and family medicine. You have your third year of medical school to get plenty of experience with these.

If you have interests outside of these fields, you don't get experience in them until possibly your 4th year. You submit applications by mid-third rotation of 4th year. This means you get 2.5 rotations of specialties before applying.

I would choose a subspecialty you think you might enjoy to help yourself rule it in/out. That way when you get to 4th year of medical school, you will have a better idea of exactly what you want to do. We definitely don't get enough experience in all fields before we apply.

 

[Mobius1985]

I am looking to shadow an well-known/well respected OB-GYN who is a family friend of mine. Has anyone shadowed an ob-gyn and had any problems with it? I think it would definitely be difficult to shadow during outpatient exams, etc.

I shadowed in a family planning clinic. Only once did a patient object to my presence, and the doctor told her that as the clinic was a teaching institution, since she chose to come there, it would be appreciated if she would support the mission of the clinic. And she did. I think it's probably important that the doc you shadow is supportive of your presence and helps to sell the "teaching" concept. For me this was a great experience with a variety of clinical and surgical exposure.

 

[pietachok]

If he introduces you as colleague Dr. MedicineMike, you won't have many problems at all. The ob/gyn residents at my school introduce medical students as Dr. ......... to eliminate problems. It works. Not sure how ethical that is, but if it get me a better education, ethical can kiss my ***.

That's a really gross attitude, especially to encourage in a pre-med. If I found out a pre-med was passed off as a physician to observe my GYN exam, I would sue for malpractice. That pre-med may never become a medical professional...it is not the same as allowing a med student into the room.

 

[sarahg]

That's a really gross attitude, especially to encourage in a pre-med. If I found out a pre-med was passed off as a physician to observe my GYN exam, I would sue for malpractice. That pre-med may never become a medical professional...it is not the same as allowing a med student into the room.

Same here. I don't care if it's for educational purposes, you should not use false pretenses -- especially the false pretenses of being a licensed medical professional -- to witness any private moment, especially a gynecological exam! Though in my opinion, it's wrong to introduce a med student as a doctor as well. The patient has a right to make their own decisions regarding their care, the fact that they might make a decision you don't agree with doesn't give you the right to lie to them.

 

[sarahg]

If I were you, I would choose something besides general surgery, general IM, general pediatrics, general psych, ob/gyn, and family medicine. You have your third year of medical school to get plenty of experience with these.

If you have interests outside of these fields, you don't get experience in them until possibly your 4th year. You submit applications by mid-third rotation of 4th year. This means you get 2.5 rotations of specialties before applying.

I would choose a subspecialty you think you might enjoy to help yourself rule it in/out. That way when you get to 4th year of medical school, you will have a better idea of exactly what you want to do. We definitely don't get enough experience in all fields before we apply.

Thanks for this advice, I hadn't thought of that.