I'm having quite a hard time locating physicians who will take shadows. I reside near a medical school so initially I contacted a lot of physicians from there through a list online and I only had one who will accept me. I also contacted my family physician who declined my request and was unable to refer me to any physicians who might. Lastly I have resorted to cold calling to physicians around my area (I'm beginning to feel like a telemarketer at the volume of physicians I have contacted) which was to no success. What else can I do?
Difficulties with Shadow
- Thread starter shffl
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+1. One is all you need. Also note that physicians at a health science center or medical school are more likely to be open to pre-meds shadowing them.
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Doctors in private practice are usually more open too.
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Won't take shadows? Just tell them to go outside!
Har har har.
Har har har.
I have asked her about it and she said she will look into it.
Yeah agreed. But so far out of all that I have contacted only one have accepted and another one pending.
All of my cold calls are towards doctors who own a private practice and so far it has been unsuccessful for me. I get reasons from practice is too busy to electrical malfunctioning lol
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A good alternative to cold-calling and asking for a commitment on their part as big as shadowing is calling or emailing and asking for a 30-minute informational interview about their work. Say that you're interested in pursuing medicine and you want to hear from someone inside the field, and ask if you could have 30 minutes of their time. You've got a very good chance of a few saying yes - a 30-minute chat is a lot less daunting than 30 hours of shadowing.
Do your best to impress, get the information you want, and at the end of those 30 minutes (when you've built a bit of a rapport and are still face to face with the doctor), make the ask. Say, "wow, I've really learned a lot in this chat. Thank you. I know it's a lot to ask, but could I maybe come in and shadow you sometime?"
With any luck, you'll have luck with that. But either way, send a thank you note and reiterate how helpful the doctor's been.
Good luck! You'll find someone - maybe when you least expect it (as happened to me. PM me if you want the whole story).
Do your best to impress, get the information you want, and at the end of those 30 minutes (when you've built a bit of a rapport and are still face to face with the doctor), make the ask. Say, "wow, I've really learned a lot in this chat. Thank you. I know it's a lot to ask, but could I maybe come in and shadow you sometime?"
With any luck, you'll have luck with that. But either way, send a thank you note and reiterate how helpful the doctor's been.
Good luck! You'll find someone - maybe when you least expect it (as happened to me. PM me if you want the whole story).
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Hmm just keep trying, I managed to find one doc that let me shadow him after trying for awhile. I'm trying to find a pediatrician or family practice doc to let me shadow. The reason why I said private practice seems to be more lenient is because it's less hassle for the doc to let you shadow them than it is for a doctor in a big university hospital or something like that.
