Getting shadowing experience. Am I doing it wrong?

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hopeandelope

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So I've called about 12 physician offices in my area, and none seem to offer shadowing. Am I going about this the wrong way? I call the office, talk to the receptionist, introduce myself and ask him/her to a message for the doctor that I want to shadow?

I'm not near any college (except a local community college). The nearest university is about 30 miles away. Maybe this is why none of the offices offer shadowing?

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I hear hospitals have a lot of doctors in them
 
I hear hospitals have a lot of doctors in them

True, to some extent. I had problems with shadowing in hospitals because of HIPAA issues, but in private practices and family physicians' offices this wasn't as much of a hindrance.
 
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I forgot that HIPAA only applies to hospitals
 
So I've called about 12 physician offices in my area, and none seem to offer shadowing. Am I going about this the wrong way? I call the office, talk to the receptionist, introduce myself and ask him/her to a message for the doctor that I want to shadow?

I'm not near any college (except a local community college). The nearest university is about 30 miles away. Maybe this is why none of the offices offer shadowing?

I think maybe it's your perspective. In my experience, it's not that "offices offer shadowing" it's that you make a connection with an individual physician (either independently or through a program at your school, etc.) and they allow you to shadow them. Try contacting your state or regional (city, county, etc.) medical society. One in my area has contacts for a network of physicians willing to be shadowed.
 
So I've called about 12 physician offices in my area, and none seem to offer shadowing. Am I going about this the wrong way? I call the office, talk to the receptionist, introduce myself and ask him/her to a message for the doctor that I want to shadow?

I'm not near any college (except a local community college). The nearest university is about 30 miles away. Maybe this is why none of the offices offer shadowing?

How about this for a plan....? Fill out volunteer applications for any hospitals near by, get into a volunteer position you would like. As you build rapports with hospital staff, you can then go about shadowing some physicians here or there. I just landed a spot in the radiology area, I get to interact with patients and the staff, so it's a great spot. Also, if I want to change 3 months from now, they'll throw me on a different project no problem. It's only 3 hours a week. I'm about to join another hospital also, because I'd like to push at least 7-8 hours a week and gain as much insight as possible and push 300 + hrs of volunteer work over the next year.
 
I'm actually in a clinical volunteering program right now (have completed about 150 hours so far), but I work mainly with nurses and rarely doctors. I want something that will allow me see directly what the doctors do.
 
I'm actually in a clinical volunteering program right now (have completed about 150 hours so far), but I work mainly with nurses and rarely doctors. I want something that will allow me see directly what the doctors do.

Not to be a dick (saying this entitles me to be a dick now:cool:). You volunteer with freakin' nurses! Network with the nurses, have them talk to physicians or friends of them and see if any are ok with some shadowing even if it's only a day. :rolleyes:
 
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Not to be a dick (saying this entitles me to be a dick now:cool:). You volunteer with freakin' nurses! Network with the nurses, have them talk to physicians or friends of them and see if any are ok with some shadowing even if it's only a day. :rolleyes:

There's nothing wrong with volunteering with nurses. A lot can be learned from a nurse. For instance: Pharmacology and drips, Hemodynamics and their corresponding waveforms on the monitor, Physician orders, etc, etc.

Make the most out of any opportunity you have.
 
I'm sorry if I sounded ungrateful -- definitely didn't mean to do that. :)

But anyway, I had asked my family doctor already, and he said he couldn't do it due to the hospital's strict privacy policies/concerns. =/ Looks like it's back to the yellowpages for me!
 
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There's nothing wrong with volunteering with nurses. A lot can be learned from a nurse. For instance: Pharmacology and drips, Hemodynamics and their corresponding waveforms on the monitor, Physician orders, etc, etc.

Make the most out of any opportunity you have.

Sorry if there was any confusion, I didn't mean to imply there was something wrong in regard to volunteering with nurses. I agree that they are awesome to volunteer around, especially ones who have been in the field many years.
 
Sorry to change the topic suddenly, but what do people wear for shadowing? A dress shirt, tie and slacks?
 
Sorry to change the topic suddenly, but what do people wear for shadowing? A dress shirt, tie and slacks?

easiest thing to do is wear long khakis, collared shirt and you must wear sneakers.

I suggest either physically approaching a doctor and asking or speaking directly with them on the phone. email might also be a good option for you (do not send a mass email. individualize each email to the specific doctor like they are a special snowflake)

and don't leave messages or anything with a receptionist - they don't care.
 
Sorry if there was any confusion, I didn't mean to imply there was something wrong in regard to volunteering with nurses. I agree that they are awesome to volunteer around, especially ones who have been in the field many years.

No confusion. I personally feel that you can learn a lot from anyone in the medical profession. It would be of importance for the OP to shadow a Physician as well. But if the OP is currently shadowing a nurse, then he/she should get as much out of it as possible. It shows a "holistic" view of medicine per say. But this is my opinion.
 
in my volunteering, I get to work with the front desk receptionist. I've definitely gained a "holistic" view of medicine.
 
in my volunteering, I get to work with the front desk receptionist. I've definitely gained a "holistic" view of medicine.

Hopefully it puts you in a setting where you can run into a lot of doctors?

And why did you name yourself after an RNase?!
 
Hopefully it puts you in a setting where you can run into a lot of doctors?

And why did you name yourself after an RNase?!

Actually, no. Though I do get tons of "smelling time," in LizzyM's terms, with patients, I only do get to interact with nurses sometimes when I drop off patients with their files. But it's one of those things where for your first 100 hours, you get some volunteering job that the hospital needs filled; then for your second 100 hours you get to choose your department. So, hopefully in my next department I'll have more interaction with nurses and hopefully doctors. But that's what shadowing's for right?

And as for your second question. I'm truly happy you knew what dicer is. Gene regulation and silencing is one of my favorite topics in molbio. You'd be more alarmed if I named myself miRNA, plus Dicer sounds a bit less nerdy.
 
I forgot that HIPAA only applies to hospitals

Hospitals have regulations and crap that comes from bureaucratic higher-ups.. individual practices, the docs make their own rules..? :xf:
 
You have to get past the receptionist.

Call and say, "can I talk to Dr X's nurse?" If they ask tell them your not a patient, but wanted to contact the Dr about something personal. 9/10 times you will get to the nurse and SHE is the one that controls the Dr, not the receptionist.
 
You have to get past the receptionist.

Call and say, "can I talk to Dr X's nurse?" If they ask tell them your not a patient, but wanted to contact the Dr about something personal. 9/10 times you will get to the nurse and SHE is the one that controls the Dr, not the receptionist.

Even better, check with clinics instead of individual practices. At the one where I live the doctor's nurses are actually options on the IVR.
 
What you should do is contact the volunteer office and ask to shadow a doctor. That's how I got my first one.
 
When I shadowed the office explicitly wanted me to wear a white coat. I had to go buy one... :confused:

really? when i did it, they let me borrow one from a doctor that wasn't there. got a lot of jokes from patients about how i was the youngest doctor that they had ever seen.
 
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