How do I find a doctor to shadow? How did you get clinical experience?

[ltdanp21]

Hi there,

Can anyone tell me how they found a doctor to shadow? I've volunteered at a local hospital for a few months but gained little insight into day-to-day medicine (I stocked supplies, made beds, ran samples from lab to lab, etc.). I want to shadow/observe a doctor so I get a feel for what I'm getting myself into. Local advice would be great too. I live in Anaheim, CA.

If you didn't shadow but had some other useful clinical experience, please let me know what you did.

Dan

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[PostalWookie]

It's fun to watch someone else be a doctor, but it doesn't tell you whether it's something you wanna do yourself. Try being and EMT instead - you get the patient contact 100% of the time

 

[Syranope2]

i spent two summers and a winter vacation working as an OR assistant at my local hospital. it was an amaaaaaazing experience, and really cemented my interest in medicine for me. i worked 40 hr/wk at transporting patients into and out of the OR, getting all the instruments and tools, sutures, packs, etc. that were needed for each case, cleaning rooms between surgeries, and doing basically whatever needed to be done. i got to learn how things in a hospital work. i was a very hard, good worker, and everyone there knew i was interested in medicine, so they went out of their way to let me watch cases, to talk to me about the profession, etc. i met some really amazing people there, and i also learned to appreciate the work that others (like ORA's) in an operating room. for example, if i'm a surgeon, i will never ever drop sutures on the floor as they are almost impossible to pick up with wet latex gloves on. from what i've heard, not all hospitals have this kind of position available. the way i found my job was to go to the HR departments of every single nearby hospital with a copy of my resume, tell them i really wanted clinical experience, and ask if they had anything available. maybe i just got lucky, i'm not sure.

as for shadowing doctors, you might start by asking your own physician if you could shadow their practice for a day. or you could ask them if they know any surgeons, ob/gyns, or whatever else you're interested, who would be willing to let you tag along for a while. do your parents have any physician friends? try looking for any local connections you have. i know i would be happy to have a college student shadow me for a while if i were a physician.

good luck!

 

[WalterSobchakk]

I had a rough time starting. It's all networking I guess. My mom has been an elementary school teacher in our area for quite some time, so she's taught tons of kids with doctor parents. As far as when I'm at college, I have some friends in the med school there who know doctors and pass my name along. Talk to the people you work with at the hospital. Talk to your boss there and tell them that you're interested in gaining more firsthand experience, maybe in addition to what you already do. Maybe he/she might not know, but could point you in the right direction. Just expressing interest opens a lot of doors sometimes. Good luck!

 

[AznDoc]

Hey guys I am also wondering about this question. I am going to start my freshmen year come fall and am currently working as a summer research intern for Pfizer Inc. If I continue to do this every summer, but not get "adequate" clinical exposure, will that hurt my chances in the long run? Thanks for the advice.

 

[Ames980]

i would highly reccomend just calling drs up! i did an internship class for school where we more or less had to shadow someone and i didn't know any doctors in the area so i just went to different hospitals web sites and called every one listed under the specialties i was interested it. of course you dont hear back from most people, but esp. if you have a local teaching hospital there will be at least 1 enthusiastic doc who will let you follow them around for a bit! be prepared for loads of "nos" but you'll find someone!

 

[angstrom55]

Hey guys I am also wondering about this question. I am going to start my freshmen year come fall and am currently working as a summer research intern for Pfizer Inc. If I continue to do this every summer, but not get "adequate" clinical exposure, will that hurt my chances in the long run? Thanks for the advice.

I think it will hurt your chances if you don't get any clinical volunteering in. While the research position sounds awesome, schools also want to know if you know what you're getting into as for as working with patients, etc.

 

[Medikit]

Where can I do clinical volunteering where I actually get decent patient time? My hospital sucks, every volunteer position is mostly clerical/cleaning. The only contact I get is the few times where I get to wheel someone into the place where we get people ready for surgery.

 

[VFrank]

Where can I do clinical volunteering where I actually get decent patient time? My hospital sucks, every volunteer position is mostly clerical/cleaning. The only contact I get is the few times where I get to wheel someone into the place where we get people ready for surgery.

You need to ask the hospital, because there ARE usually volunteer positions in places like the ER where you get to interact with patients, but they do not advertise. That's what I had to do: I called up the volunteer office and the coordinator said "yeah, we only have gift shop, cafeteria, etc. available" and I said, "no, that's not true -- a friend of mine volunteers in your ER. I want to do THAT." They just don't like to post those positions because then every premed from here to Timbuktoo (sp?) will be knocking down the door.

 

[Smooth Operater]

do volunteering as gift shop or cafteria wokers count as clinical experience?

 

[VFrank]

do volunteering as gift shop or cafteria wokers count as clinical experience?

Kind of doubtful that it counts as "clinical." It's a good non-clinical EC, though!

 

[Medikit]

You need to ask the hospital, because there ARE usually volunteer positions in places like the ER where you get to interact with patients, but they do not advertise. That's what I had to do: I called up the volunteer office and the coordinator said "yeah, we only have gift shop, cafeteria, etc. available" and I said, "no, that's not true -- a friend of mine volunteers in your ER. I want to do THAT." They just don't like to post those positions because then every premed from here to Timbuktoo (sp?) will be knocking down the door.

I'll ask about that. That would be so cool. I don't think it's possible though. I asked today if I could get a job with more patient contact and the person said "I don't think we do that..."

 

[Og kingofBashan]

One of my local hospitals has a thing for college volunteers where they give you the option to be placed in places like Xray, PT, operating room etc.

This is a small city hospital, but am I right in thinking that by volunteering in big city areas you get more/better exposure to patients?

 

[VFrank]

I'll ask about that. That would be so cool. I don't think it's possible though. I asked today if I could get a job with more patient contact and the person said "I don't think we do that..."

Is it a university hospital? If not, go to a university hospital. They are usually more understanding to the plights of students.

 

[thewzdoc]

Don?t you have a family doc? If he/she isn?t willing to allow you to shadow then ask for a reference. This is better than cold calling.

 

[akpete]

Don?t you have a family doc? If he/she isn?t willing to allow you to shadow then ask for a reference. This is better than cold calling.

well, then what do you suggest for the people that don't have a family doc. I haven't had a regular doctor since I was 11. Plus, a family doc would be at home, while I am 2 hours away.

I liked the idea of asking at a university hospital, unfortunately, the closest one is 1 1/1 hours away.

what about at "free" clinics? do people generally tend to get more patient contact there?

 

[thewzdoc]

well, then what do you suggest for the people that don't have a family doc. I haven't had a regular doctor since I was 11. Plus, a family doc would be at home, while I am 2 hours away.

I liked the idea of asking at a university hospital, unfortunately, the closest one is 1 1/1 hours away.

what about at "free" clinics? do people generally tend to get more patient contact there?

You don't have yearly physicals? So what if the doc is 2 hours away....call him/her ask for a referral.

 

[akpete]

Sorry, but the only physical I get every year is from the ob/gyn, and she is not a doctor, but a nurse practitioner. Not everybody can afford to get a physical from a doctor every year. And when I do, it's from whatever doctor at the clinic is available at the time I am.

But anyway, I think you missed my point. I don't have I contact person at a hospital, so is there anything else you would recommend besides cold calling.

 

[g3pro]

It's all networking. I personally know several attending physicians at a major hospital and they had no problem with taking me on a PGY-2/internship/clinical rotation. I'm starting my fifth week on monday. I just had a killer day today, though: I was doing a procedure (holding devices while the resident stiches them to the skin, getting medications ready, handing the proper tools to the surgeon, holding the patient, etc) for four hours. Then I had to intubate another patient with v-tach, etc. Grueling, yet rewarding work.

Working 8 hours a day for 5 weeks as a "resident"/"intern" is really showing me how great medicine is. Heh. I wonder if anyone else is doing what I am doing.

 

[thewzdoc]

Sorry, but the only physical I get every year is from the ob/gyn, and she is not a doctor, but a nurse practitioner. Not everybody can afford to get a physical from a doctor every year. And when I do, it's from whatever doctor at the clinic is available at the time I am.

But anyway, I think you missed my point. I don't have I contact person at a hospital, so is there anything else you would recommend besides cold calling.

Sorry I ?missed your point? you asked for advice and I gave you what I used.

Looks like since you don?t know any docs, don?t get regular physicals, haven?t had a family practice doc your only solution is cold calling.

P.S. A physical is only $80 at most any family practice?.it?s not just for the rich.

Good luck...

 

[skypilot]

Consider nursing homes and nurses aide certification. Those jobs might get you started.

 

[lilusher]

Hey guys I am also wondering about this question. I am going to start my freshmen year come fall and am currently working as a summer research intern for Pfizer Inc. If I continue to do this every summer, but not get "adequate" clinical exposure, will that hurt my chances in the long run? Thanks for the advice.

Hey my pre-med. advisor says that he has seen many cases in which that will not hurt you. Actually, it shows the medical schools that you have the ability to be dedicated to something and have a tendency to stick with it, which is what they are looking for in medical students. If possible you may want to look into getting experience during the year, maybe just shadow a physician for 3hrs/wk. That builds volunteer hours and gets you experience at the same time. By the way, I was looking for an internship like that how do I get in touch with the right people?

 

[AndyMD]

I very recently had the same problem -- I didn't know anybody that works in the healthcare system, and my aims were specific enough that I assumed my family doctor wouldn't have any relevant connections or references to give me (I also no longer live in the same city as he does). I decided to start by emailing doctors, rather than cold calling, because I didn't really want to put them on the spot and I figured I could send them out faster.

Depending on the institution, it can be very difficult to get contact information for a given doctor -- I essentially looked up names and had to have a friend who worked in the medical center access a database with their phone numbers and email addresses. I felt like I was circumventing a system that was put in place to prevent ppl exactly like me from wasting these doctors' time, but hey -- you do what you've got to do, if you're serious about it. Anyways, somehow I also ended up calling the director of student affairs at a local medical school (associated with the institution I wanted to observe at), and asked him if there was anyone specifically I ought to talk to about observing ... he was able to give me a name (I had to look up his contact info. separately, though I probably could have asked for it), and when I emailed the man to ask about any doctors to observe, he straight up offered to let me observe him, which was a surprise. He's in a slightly different area than what I had been hoping for, but since I had no experience whatsoever, I leapt at the chance.

Then we got into some HIPAA crap. HIPAA is a Congressional act that essentially (as far as it applies to us) seeks to ensure that a patient's private information is not compromised, and any healthcare worker has to be HIPAA-compliant, which can mean various things at different institutions -- it might mean you have to participate in something as elaborate as a training session, or it might be as minimal as a briefing, or it might even mean nothing at all in the case of some hospitals that aren't that strict when it comes to volunteers. Certain officials at the hospital may even try to tell you that you're simply not allowed to observe doctors or patients, but this is often a misdirection as far as I can tell. Anyways, once I found out that I could indeed be HIPAA-trained, I did so and have been observing the generous doctor who took me on without even having met me since early June.

My success clearly relied on a lot of luck. None of the doctors I emailed randomly (I probably emailed about 3) ever responded. In the end, the one who responded was the one whom I had been told about by the director of student affairs-- so even in this limited sense, a connection might have helped me (though I suspect this particular doctor is just very very nice). So if emails go ignored, I would definitely suggest calling someone in some position of knowledge or authority (at the hospital or at an affiliated medical school, or something) and asking for some advice. Ultimately though, your success is probably less dependent on luck and more on your determination to stick with it and keep asking around. .... give it a shot!

 

[UT_OC]

i spent two summers and a winter vacation working as an OR assistant at my local hospital. it was an amaaaaaazing experience, and really cemented my interest in medicine for me. i worked 40 hr/wk at transporting patients into and out of the OR, getting all the instruments and tools, sutures, packs, etc. that were needed for each case, cleaning rooms between surgeries, and doing basically whatever needed to be done. i got to learn how things in a hospital work. i was a very hard, good worker, and everyone there knew i was interested in medicine, so they went out of their way to let me watch cases, to talk to me about the profession, etc. i met some really amazing people there, and i also learned to appreciate the work that others (like ORA's) in an operating room. for example, if i'm a surgeon, i will never ever drop sutures on the floor as they are almost impossible to pick up with wet latex gloves on. from what i've heard, not all hospitals have this kind of position available. the way i found my job was to go to the HR departments of every single nearby hospital with a copy of my resume, tell them i really wanted clinical experience, and ask if they had anything available. maybe i just got lucky, i'm not sure.

as for shadowing doctors, you might start by asking your own physician if you could shadow their practice for a day. or you could ask them if they know any surgeons, ob/gyns, or whatever else you're interested, who would be willing to let you tag along for a while. do your parents have any physician friends? try looking for any local connections you have. i know i would be happy to have a college student shadow me for a while if i were a physician.

good luck!

Wow I do the same thing @ Brackenridge Hospital OR in Austin.. same job description too. Yeah, its a great exp. esp. when they help you to learn.