When do you guys find time to shadow through the year? I can think of Christmas and those couple of days we get off during the school year. Is shadowing on weekend a real possibility? During the week, class loads interfere with opportunities.
Finding time to Shadow?
- Thread starter uscpremed
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weekends are very possible. Shadowing usually takes up 8 hours/day so expect most of your day to be occupied. Your best bet to stack up hours would be Summer and Winter breaks where you can shadow the same physician for an entire week or perhaps even longer
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I've found that it's best to just ask the physician when shadowing would be most convenient and then make every attempt to accommodate their schedule, regardless of class. That being said, definitely opt out of dates conflicting with labs, exams or reading days, and try not to miss the same class more than once. Let your professor know what's going on in advance if it's a smaller section, they'll understand. Use good judgement.
I think that a solid day of shadowing is worth a day of lecture in almost any case. As long as you're responsible and make up the notes you've missed (and don't skip class frequently), you'll be just fine.
Besides the school year, there's always the summer. Just be sure to ask in advance as there are usually other pre-meds afoot around that time.
As for weekends, it really depends on the doctor. Everyone has a different schedule, and some may very well keep a few weekend shifts. I would suggest being up front with the physician if it's really that big of a deal to you. Just remember to be respectful and cognizant of the fact that they're helping you out here.
I think that a solid day of shadowing is worth a day of lecture in almost any case. As long as you're responsible and make up the notes you've missed (and don't skip class frequently), you'll be just fine.
Besides the school year, there's always the summer. Just be sure to ask in advance as there are usually other pre-meds afoot around that time.
As for weekends, it really depends on the doctor. Everyone has a different schedule, and some may very well keep a few weekend shifts. I would suggest being up front with the physician if it's really that big of a deal to you. Just remember to be respectful and cognizant of the fact that they're helping you out here.
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I have always found Fridays to be the best for my schedule. My classes have always been M/W or T/Th with no classes on Friday. Arranging your shadowing opportunities during the beginning of December to shadow during January could have been a good plan since you are now on break, I think. There's also spring break. Maybe you could knock out 5 specialities during that week. I only did ~30 hours (7x 4 hour shifts) with a PCP and 8 hour shifts with 7 specialists.
For the weekend, I'm sure most office shadowing would be out the question. The hospitals should have specialists on the weekends. ER docs will definitely be there on the weekend. 😉
For the weekend, I'm sure most office shadowing would be out the question. The hospitals should have specialists on the weekends. ER docs will definitely be there on the weekend. 😉
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I've shadowed at all different times and days. Sometimes I would only be there for a few hours before I had to go to class. (I had to do that a lot with the surgeon I shadowed). I did a lot of hours over summer. This past winter break, I spent several weekend days shadowing on the wards in a hospital. Other than that, I've always been able to make arrangements.
