Do doctors allow you to shadow them?

[vaxop]

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I always thought that the doctor/patient confidentiality prevented doctors from letting med wannabies from shadowing. Everytime ive asked to volunteer at a clinic, I get stuck with some silly secretarial duty

 

[LJoo83]

it depends.
i wanted to follow a nephrologist but because the premed program at my school didn't have a relationship set up, i wasn't allowed to.
observing surgeries is a no no due to hippa...unless if you have the right connections.

but...the hospital i work at is an non teaching hospital. the teaching hospital in town does have shadowing experience set ups with diff specialities (aside from surgery that is).

if you're lucky enough to have a personal relationship with a doc, then i would approach them individually.

 

[MollyMalone]

It depends. Some places and some people will, some won't. If you get turned down, keep trying at a different facility or with a different physician. I had the best luck at teaching facilities, which makes sense, I suppose.

 

[TPROrgoTutor]

Ive shadowed surgery and scrubbed in on several occassions. In a teaching hospital though.

 

[Primo]

Thankfully there is a program here for pre-med physician shadowing. So I got to spend a month shadowing various doctors in a non-teaching hospital. Spent a week in surgery.

 

[somemaybedoc]

Try county hospitals, free clinics, and teaching hospitals for volunteering. They usually seem to allow you to see some patient treatment. In my experience private hospitals use you as a free secretary to save some money. I've heard free clinics are especially good.

For shadowing try to contact a doctor directly, if you have any family members or friends who are doctors, you could look to them for help finding someone.

 

[Kardizzle]

My school offered a shadowing program for cardiothoracic surgery that lasted a month. I had to complete HIPAA before starting.

 

[Mister Pie]

My school has an internship program which you apply to. It's great and every week I get to scrub up and watch a surgery.

 

[DR.M&Ms]

in April, I shadowed a Pathologist/ME( viewed an autopsy). But, I was wandering if there was such thing as (prolonged shadowing) , where you would do it for a month or longer, rather than a day. Because, when I contacted the hospital here in town, they were very nice and accomodating, but they didn't make it sound as though they wanted me to come back again the next day hehe