Help... I want to shadow!

[Igni Fera]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have been volunteering at a large socal teaching hospital now for the past few months. First, I worked in patient escort for 40+ hours, learning the (huge) hospital and getting close with critical patients, seeing if I felt comfortable in the clinical environment. Rubbed shoulders with quite a few RNs and tech or all kind, but rarely a doc to be seen. I just transferred to the Surgical Waiting Area, where I am now getting close to patients' families, polishing my people and multi-tasking skills, and learning more about how the whole place functions. Occassionally, a doctor comes around looking for a family, or I speak with them briefly on the phone after paging them, but things are often so fast I don't get a chance to talk to them at all.

I wanted to volunteer to see if being a doctor is what I want to do. Now that I am sure about that, another thing I hoped I might get out of this volunteering thing would be opportunities to meet with docs and get their perspectives on things, maybe even shadow some of them. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for how I can put myself out there a bit more in this big busy hospital to catch myself a doc for some shadowing. Jump one at the lunch counter?!

When I get back from my vacation in a couple of weeks, I will also start in the Neurology Dept office, where, if I am lucky, I may be able to start working with a doc in a couple/few months!

As of right now, I don't have health insurance (self-employed not-so-starving artist thing), so I can't talk to my non-existant doc about shadowing her.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Call around to doc offices and ask if they will have shadowing. Or ask the nursing staff. If its a teaching hopsital, most of the doctors might be willing to let you shadow since they have med students/residents around.

 

[Igni Fera]

Call around to doc offices and ask if they will have shadowing. Or ask the nursing staff. If its a teaching hopsital, most of the doctors might be willing to let you shadow since they have med students/residents around.

Thanks for the tip. 👍 I'm a newbie to this medical world in many ways, so its much appreciated.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Nurses could be a huge asset (if they are nice 😉 ). They know the ins and outs of the hospitals. Also networking is huge. It really helped me get a variety of ideas of people to shadow. 😀

 

[MJB]

I've been "lucky" in the fact that I had a major illness, so I had a lot of Dr.'s that I got to know...so I've shadowed with them...and through my wife's connections as a nurse, I just got done following around a gas passer today...it was unbelievably awesome...

There was a AAA that I got to see up close and personal....

 

[lainey234]

Call around to doc offices and ask if they will have shadowing. Or ask the nursing staff. If its a teaching hopsital, most of the doctors might be willing to let you shadow since they have med students/residents around.

I was just thinking about how to do this. I don't have a teaching hospital nearby, will cold calling Dr's offices work? Any other thoughts on how to get in?

 

[mshheaddoc]

Cold calling would work or even going into the office. Do you have any state medical schools? Maybe even calling their clinical education department or talking to student affairs might help. If you tell them that you are having trouble finding shadowing and if they had any doctors that students rotated with in your city or nearby. It takes alot of proactivity on your part but it can be done. Also premed advisors can help too!

 

[Igni Fera]

I've been "lucky" in the fact that I had a major illness, so I had a lot of Dr.'s that I got to know...so I've shadowed with them...and through my wife's connections as a nurse, I just got done following around a gas passer today...it was unbelievably awesome...

There was a AAA that I got to see up close and personal....

Gas passer? AAA? 😕 I'm still on SDN, right, and not some auto mechanic network?

 

[mustangsally65]

Gas passer? AAA? 😕 I'm still on SDN, right, and not some auto mechanic network?

gas passer= anesthesiologist
AAA= I'm thinking it's abdominal aortic aneurism?

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

gas passer= anesthesiologist
AAA= I'm thinking it's abdominal aortic aneurism?

You see, I would have said:

"gas passer" == chronic flatulent
"AAA" = Anemic AArdvark

But then again, what do I know?

 

[MJB]

gas passer= anesthesiologist
AAA= I'm thinking it's abdominal aortic aneurism?

Bingo....

What was wild about it was the pt. was "with it" when he/she came off of the helicopter and into the ER...then they wheeled the pt. to the OR about 2 minutes later and pt. was still alert and talking...then, talked a bit...shuffled around, they moved pt. to the bed, and the BP went WAY LOW...

Surgeon opens the patient up and gets to the heart and says "the heart is beating but there is nothing in the aorta"...the next few minutes were rather intense (to say the least), but I stood in awe watching the docs go to work...they got a central line in and clamped the aorta and stabilized the patient...

Medicine is amazing.

 

[Thorp]

Hmm, maybe try talking with the volunteer coordinator at your hospital? I volunteer at an insanely busy inner-city hospital where some areas, like the ICU or ED OBS would be out of the question for shadowing/meaningful mentoring because they're just too intense. My coordinator was able to point me toward a part of the hospital that was more conducive to shadowing.

Also don't get discouraged if a few of the docs you initially approach aren't receptive. There are many MDs working at any given time at your hospital having many different types of days, weeks, months, marriages etc. I know that may seem obnoxiously obvious but the point is this; it only takes one mentor to have an enormous impact on your life and its direction - don't underestimate the import of that relationship. Be persistent, hardworking and extraordinarily respectful, someone will take note.