Cold call for shadowing

[MarshallW]

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I have searched a bunch, and I am sure the topic has been covered ad nauseum, but I am looking for the opinions of others.

shadowing opportunities....???

I shadowed a plastic surgeon for a day a couple weeks ago, and he really wanted no part of it. I have known him my entire life, but it seemed like a courtesy extended to the son of a good family friend. I had a laundry list of questions to ask, but most of them eventually turned into him giving me financial advice. I thanked him graciously at the end of the day and he offered to write a letter if I needed it. I sent him a note, thanking him again even though I was pretty deflated.

Current dilemma:

I know that my mother has designed quite a few houses for doctors in the area. Do I cold call these people; introduce myself "Hi, this is Marshall, son of your architect..." or do I ask my mother to call them first since they have an established relationship?

For some reason, I doubt I would be having any qualms if my father was calling in the favor. Am I thinking way too much into this? Do I just ask her to call for me?

 

[dawgbone]

Put on a nice collared shirt and some slacks and go to the Dr.'s office where you want to shadow. Ask to speak to someone about shadowing (preferably the doc him/herself) and express your desire to shadow.

Or you could have mommy/daddy do it for you. I'd be much more likely to let someone shadow me who took the time to come ask me himself.

 

[Valerie2481]

Definitely don't have your parents call for you, or limit yourself to doctors that somehow have a connection to your parents. Find some in a specialty you might find interesting that are in reasonable distance from your house/school, take the initiative and get it done yourself.

 

[MarshallW]

Put on a nice collared shirt and some slacks and go to the Dr.'s office where you want to shadow. Ask to speak to someone about shadowing (preferably the doc him/herself) and express your desire to shadow.

Or you could have mommy/daddy do it for you. I'd be much more likely to let someone shadow me who took the time to come ask me himself.

Exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank you.

 

[n3xa]

You can always do both.

 

[hopefuldoc97239]

Definitely don't have your parents call for you, or limit yourself to doctors that somehow have a connection to your parents. Find some in a specialty you might find interesting that are in reasonable distance from your house/school, take the initiative and get it done yourself.

👍


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I cold-called a physician once to ask about shadowing. The receptionist put me on with the office manager, and the office manager pretty much said, "Okay, when should we expect you?" Didn't even ask my last name. Shadowed the guy for months and had a great time. He wrote one of my letters, and considering I was offered interviews at UCSF and UCSD as an out of state applicant, he must not have said anything hurtful to my application! When I stopped shadowing because my schedule was changing he told me to come back any time.

This was a family practice physician, who I think sometimes go into medicine for different reasons than sub-specialists. Also it was a DO. But regardless of degree or specialty, the point I'm getting at is that there are some docs out there who love students' enthusiasm. If you get someone who doesn't want to let you shadow just move on and find someone else who's into it... that's a better person to shadow with anyway!

 

[mafunk]

Are you volunteering anywhere medically related? If so, use your connections for shadowing leads. That worked for me.

 

[PharMed2016]

I have searched a bunch, and I am sure the topic has been covered ad nauseum, but I am looking for the opinions of others.

shadowing opportunities....???

I shadowed a plastic surgeon for a day a couple weeks ago, and he really wanted no part of it. I have known him my entire life, but it seemed like a courtesy extended to the son of a good family friend. I had a laundry list of questions to ask, but most of them eventually turned into him giving me financial advice. I thanked him graciously at the end of the day and he offered to write a letter if I needed it. I sent him a note, thanking him again even though I was pretty deflated.

Current dilemma:

I know that my mother has designed quite a few houses for doctors in the area. Do I cold call these people; introduce myself "Hi, this is Marshall, son of your architect..." or do I ask my mother to call them first since they have an established relationship?

For some reason, I doubt I would be having any qualms if my father was calling in the favor. Am I thinking way too much into this? Do I just ask her to call for me?

Cold calling never really worked for me because most physicians don't want to take the extra liability of having a person shadow. I had trouble even when I made it known that I was a pharmacy student. 🙁

This was at home of course, lol. I'm sure I'll have better luck in Erie because of connections through the school.

I'll let everyone know how cold-calling in Erie goes for me this week.

 

[toff4l]

Regarding shadowing, I got my first stint via a doctor that I already knew. I told him I wanted to shadow and he arranged for me to shadow a FP.

Personally, I don't think they were too thrilled having me come back after the first day. They really wanted me there for the day and then that was it but I insisted on coming every week. I did it for a month but I got tired of sitting in the lounge most of the time and a lot of the times some of the patients objected to having me in the room with the resident who I was shadowing. After that experience I kinda got the feeling that I was trying too hard so I didn't shadow anymore. I am going to look for an internship or externship for my shadowing.

You just have to be persistent and find a doc who's a good fit.

 

[PharMed2016]

Cold calling never really worked for me because most physicians don't want to take the extra liability of having a person shadow. I had trouble even when I made it known that I was a pharmacy student. 🙁

This was at home of course, lol. I'm sure I'll have better luck in Erie because of connections through the school.

I'll let everyone know how cold-calling in Erie goes for me this week.

Well the week has come and gone. I've probably called over 40 doctors before someone decided to take me on as a student. 🙁

I shadowed a FP physician this week and it was fantastic. I got to apply what I've learned over the past few years to various patients and managed to even diagnose a few patients (classic signs). Now I am more sure than ever that I want to become a physician.