Email etiquette?

[portlandpixie]

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Hi all,

I recently emailed a doctor about possibly shadowing him this summer exactly two weeks ago. He emailed me back the next day saying that he'd love for me to shadow him and asked me what type of "opportunities" I was interested in. I replied back saying that (since he's a general surgeon) I'm really interested in observing surgeries, checking out the surgical skills lab, and, most of all, just being able to shadow him and see what he does as a surgeon/doctor. It was a pretty long response thinking about it now I guess. The problem is, he hasn't emailed me back and it's been two weeks. Should I give him more time? Should I email him again? If I do email him again, what do I say? Of course I don't want to be like "hey so since you didn't email me back...." but emailing him again after he hasn't replied is, in an essence, saying that without actually saying it. What's the most polite way of asking if he'd still be open to letting me shadow him? I've had this problem with doctors before but it's happened after I've shadowed them a couple times and so they already know me and it's a little bit easier to email them and remind them. I completely understand that doctors are very busy people and I know that if an email is too long sometimes they'll push it aside for later but never go back to it because they forget or something. So, I mean, it's not like I'm angry he hasn't emailed me back. I just think that maybe he needs a reminder?

Also, I don't know if this matters or not, but I don't know this doctor personally. My parents are both computer people and there are no doctors in my family and I wanted to be able to shadow this summer so I randomly picked a doctor at the med school in my home town. I guess I didn't completely pick him randomly as I know, after reading about him, that he often holds one-day classes for high school students showing them around the med school and stuff like. So, I mean, I chose him because I thought I'd have a better chance of actually having him say yes to shadowing.

Anyways, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I'm suppose to approach this problem? I don't want to be annoying but I also don't want to just sit back and do nothing because this is something that I want to do and he seemed really willing when he emailed me back the first time.


Thanks!

 

[portlandpixie]

Hi all,

I recently emailed a doctor about possibly shadowing him this summer exactly two weeks ago. He emailed me back the next day saying that he'd love for me to shadow him and asked me what type of "opportunities" I was interested in. I replied back saying that (since he's a general surgeon) I'm really interested in observing surgeries, checking out the surgical skills lab, and, most of all, just being able to shadow him and see what he does as a surgeon/doctor. It was a pretty long response thinking about it now I guess. The problem is, he hasn't emailed me back and it's been two weeks. Should I give him more time? Should I email him again? If I do email him again, what do I say? Of course I don't want to be like "hey so since you didn't email me back...." but emailing him again after he hasn't replied is, in an essence, saying that without actually saying it. What's the most polite way of asking if he'd still be open to letting me shadow him? I've had this problem with doctors before but it's happened after I've shadowed them a couple times and so they already know me and it's a little bit easier to email them and remind them. I completely understand that doctors are very busy people and I know that if an email is too long sometimes they'll push it aside for later but never go back to it because they forget or something. So, I mean, it's not like I'm angry he hasn't emailed me back. I just think that maybe he needs a reminder?

Also, I don't know if this matters or not, but I don't know this doctor personally. My parents are both computer people and there are no doctors in my family and I wanted to be able to shadow this summer so I randomly picked a doctor at the med school in my home town. I guess I didn't completely pick him randomly as I know, after reading about him, that he often holds one-day classes for high school students showing them around the med school and stuff like. So, I mean, I chose him because I thought I'd have a better chance of actually having him say yes to shadowing.

Anyways, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I'm suppose to approach this problem? I don't want to be annoying but I also don't want to just sit back and do nothing because this is something that I want to do and he seemed really willing when he emailed me back the first time.


Thanks!

I'm so sorry! I dont' know why it double posted!!!

 

[kArSoN RyDaH]

Hi all,

I recently emailed a doctor about possibly shadowing him this summer exactly two weeks ago. He emailed me back the next day saying that he'd love for me to shadow him and asked me what type of "opportunities" I was interested in. I replied back saying that (since he's a general surgeon) I'm really interested in observing surgeries, checking out the surgical skills lab, and, most of all, just being able to shadow him and see what he does as a surgeon/doctor. It was a pretty long response thinking about it now I guess. The problem is, he hasn't emailed me back and it's been two weeks. Should I give him more time? Should I email him again? If I do email him again, what do I say? Of course I don't want to be like "hey so since you didn't email me back...." but emailing him again after he hasn't replied is, in an essence, saying that without actually saying it. What's the most polite way of asking if he'd still be open to letting me shadow him? I've had this problem with doctors before but it's happened after I've shadowed them a couple times and so they already know me and it's a little bit easier to email them and remind them. I completely understand that doctors are very busy people and I know that if an email is too long sometimes they'll push it aside for later but never go back to it because they forget or something. So, I mean, it's not like I'm angry he hasn't emailed me back. I just think that maybe he needs a reminder?

Also, I don't know if this matters or not, but I don't know this doctor personally. My parents are both computer people and there are no doctors in my family and I wanted to be able to shadow this summer so I randomly picked a doctor at the med school in my home town. I guess I didn't completely pick him randomly as I know, after reading about him, that he often holds one-day classes for high school students showing them around the med school and stuff like. So, I mean, I chose him because I thought I'd have a better chance of actually having him say yes to shadowing.

Anyways, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I'm suppose to approach this problem? I don't want to be annoying but I also don't want to just sit back and do nothing because this is something that I want to do and he seemed really willing when he emailed me back the first time.


Thanks!

im not really familiar with these types of situations BUT if it was ME! then i would email him back asking him or her when i would be able to start and if they were still okay with having me shadow them in a WEEK not now. but a week.

 

[auburnO5]

If it has been 2 weeks since you have heard from him, I would probably sent him another email. You could just say something like.. hey I'm just following up on my previous email to see if/when would be a good time for me to shadow you - just something simple like that. I don't think it would seem rude or pushy. As you know, doctors are very busy and often forget stuff like this, so I see no problem with reminding him 🙂 good luck

 

[portlandpixie]

im not really familiar with these types of situations BUT if it was ME! then i would email him back asking him or her when i would be able to start and if they were still okay with having me shadow them in a WEEK not now. but a week.

Yeah haha I know. It's sort of an awkward situation I think. But yes, I was already planning on emailing him.. I just wanted to see if anyone had any good advice before I did it/am partly stalling because I hate having to write these types of emails... but thanks!!!

 

[portlandpixie]

If it has been 2 weeks since you have heard from him, I would probably sent him another email. You could just say something like.. hey I'm just following up on my previous email to see if/when would be a good time for me to shadow you - just something simple like that. I don't think it would seem rude or pushy. As you know, doctors are very busy and often forget stuff like this, so I see no problem with reminding him 🙂 good luck

Thanks so much!! I honestly hate being in these types of situations because I always feel like I'm being too aggressive especially since I'm asking him for a huge favor so I greatly appreciate your advice. It definitely makes me feel better about emailing him. Thanks again!

 

[JJMrK]

I am merging the two threads. I'm not sure if this was a time-out issue or a deliberate cross-post. Just be aware that there is no need to post the same thread in different places (or at multiple times).