How does a premed "qualify" to shadow a physician?

[pithy84]

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My family knows tons of doctors (all MDs) in various specialties. Do I need any kind of qualification or certification to shadow a physician? My understanding is no, if the physician and the patient both agree, then I can watch the doctor-patient interaction. Since I have the patient's permission, this is not a violation of HIPAA.

A family medicine doctor in private practice has said I can shadow him, just show up. Bam, done. I am looking forward to it.

An oncologist who works in a hospital (whom I really want to shadow) seems very incredulous about this whole arrangement. She thinks I must need to be certified or something, but she certainly doesn't know what that entails. "Doctor A let me do it" is not working as an argument. Quoting SDN probably won't work too well either, is there some official-looking website that talks about how shadowing works? I am not even sure whether this oncologist has asked her superiors at the hospital, which is a bit weird because she is very enthusiastic about helping me in every other way.

There are semi-relevant threads, but the most recent is 4 years old and doesn't directly address my questions.

 

[allantois]

No, you don't need any pre-requisites to shadow.
Dress professionally and show up to your shadowing at prearranged date and time.
The oncologist probably doesn't want you to shadow her; unless there's some sort of clearance you have to go through to be able to shadow her in the hospital.

 

[ProudMD]

You don't need any form of certification or training to shadow a physician. You may have to fill out a few consent/HIPPA-related forms if you want to shadow in a big hospital, but at small private practices, all you need is the approval of the physician you want to shadow.

 

[LizzyM]

It might help if you can show that you have received training about HIPAA (federally privacy laws that apply to physicians and others involved in health care & health insurance) and have been screened for TB and had a background check. This is usually done for hospital volunteers so if you've been through that and can show your volunteer's badge or something and explain how you've been "checked out" then the oncologist might come around to feeling comfortable having you as a shadow.

 

[Gurby]

Every hospital handles things differently. There is always a lot of red tape to go through. One hospital I wanted to shadow at required immunization records, a new Tdap and TB test, criminal and sex offender background checks, and I had to have an interview and attend a 4-hour orientation This is probably why your oncologist is incredulous about it - it may be a similarly painful process at that hospital.

Shadowing in an office or clinic setting is much easier.

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

Like LizzyM said, it's easiest if you've volunteered or been employed at a hospital. That way, you have the immunizations and HIPAA training that many physicians would require.

You don't have to have any special qualifications. Just keep cold calling or ask physicians in person (easy if you work in a hospital), and you'll eventually find many who will allow you to shadow them. Tell them that you're pre-med or applying to medical school, and most will be more than happy to give you the opportunity to follow them around. If one doctor doesn't seem enthusiastic about you shadowing him or her, just find someone else.