How to ask to shadow a doctor if you already work at a hospital?

[icedczar]

Hi guys,

I'm a pharmacy tech at a large teaching hospital and I was wondering how I should go about asking about shadowing. I don't typically directly interact with any doctors but I'm always up on the floors delivering meds. Since I have a company email, should I just try emailing doctors in the specialties I'm interested in and hope for the best? Or should I just ask in person? I feel like that would be kind of weird and I feel bad interrupting but maybe that would work better. Thanks!

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[vellez]

Ask in person. Some will probably say no, but some will say yeah. Also, be sure you know the hospitals position on shadowing, though they should be chill with it.

 

[freak7]

Bug the crap out of volunteer services.

 

[idontwatchgreysanatomy]

Bug the crap out of volunteer services.

Might not work. At the med school I work at, volunteer services will not coordinate shadowing.

OP, your best bet is to ask. You can either do it in person or over email. I've had success over email, just communicate that you are already an employee. It gives the doctor and opportunity to respond (or not) without being put on the spot.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I did this very thing. I was on a specialty service for vascular surgery and worked almost exclusively with one particular surgeon for a couple years. After discussing med school plans, I asked him during a case one day if I could shadow him on rounds and in his office. He said yes. I would go on rounds with him after my shift was over, and on my weekdays off (typically one or two a week since I was in school too), I would go to his office hours.

Definitely ask in person.

 

[Goro]

"Dr Jones, would it be possible to shadow you, as I'm very interested in being a doctor? I'd like to see what your day is like, and would also appreciate your advice on a career in Medicine"

That ought to do it.

Hi guys,

I'm a pharmacy tech at a large teaching hospital and I was wondering how I should go about asking about shadowing. I don't typically directly interact with any doctors but I'm always up on the floors delivering meds. Since I have a company email, should I just try emailing doctors in the specialties I'm interested in and hope for the best? Or should I just ask in person? I feel like that would be kind of weird and I feel bad interrupting but maybe that would work better. Thanks!

 

[aldol16]

If you don't know the doctor, it may be less to your benefit to ask in person. You would just be a random person interrupting them as they're trying to get through their day and it's easy to say no to someone you don't know. But since you already work there and have a company email, I think they'd be more likely to respond to your email if you write a carefully thought out message explaining who you are and that you want to shadow them.

 

[HuskyMD Emeritus]

Hi guys,

I'm a pharmacy tech at a large teaching hospital and I was wondering how I should go about asking about shadowing. I don't typically directly interact with any doctors but I'm always up on the floors delivering meds. Since I have a company email, should I just try emailing doctors in the specialties I'm interested in and hope for the best? Or should I just ask in person? I feel like that would be kind of weird and I feel bad interrupting but maybe that would work better. Thanks!

I sent the premeds who shadowed me to shadow the house staff also . Sometimes just to sit in on their morning reports. They are recent med school grads and can give better insights on med school application and med school experience than someone who graduated years ago. So if you are at a teaching hospital, shadow the residents a few times.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

If you don't know the doctor, it may be less to your benefit to ask in person. You would just be a random person interrupting them as they're trying to get through their day and it's easy to say no to someone you don't know. But since you already work there and have a company email, I think they'd be more likely to respond to your email if you write a carefully thought out message explaining who you are and that you want to shadow them.

If it's easy to say no to a stranger in person, it's even easier to delete a stranger's email.

 

[aldol16]

If it's easy to say no to a stranger in person, it's even easier to delete a stranger's email.

Not necessarily so. If you're cornering a doctor going about his or her busy schedule, you don't get that much time to explain who you are and what you want to the doctor. You can control how much information you give over email. If this were a random Gmail account, you would be right. It's easier to just ignore it. But since it's from an internal email address, they are more likely to read it. Depending on where exactly OP is, the address is likely to be from the same accounts that med students use (@med.school.edu) and physicians are more likely to read those than messages from external accounts.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Not necessarily so. If you're cornering a doctor going about his or her busy schedule, you don't get that much time to explain who you are and what you want to the doctor. You can control how much information you give over email. If this were a random Gmail account, you would be right. It's easier to just ignore it. But since it's from an internal email address, they are more likely to read it. Depending on where exactly OP is, the address is likely to be from the same accounts that med students use (@med.school.edu) and physicians are more likely to read those than messages from external accounts.

That hasn't been my experience, but YMMV. I've always found it better to ask for things in person when possible.

 

[aldol16]

That hasn't been my experience, but YMMV. I've always found it better to ask for things in person when possible.

My experience is opposite. If I know the doctor, then asking in person is best. But if I don't know the doctor, then using an internal email account is best. If you ask in person, he doesn't know you from Adam and you could be some sort of weird pervent who just came in off the street. But if you have an internal email account, then at least you have some credibility. Even though my email was not @med.school.edu, I noticed that my @school.edu address helped when I started using that one instead of my Gmail for this.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

My experience is opposite. If I know the doctor, then asking in person is best. But if I don't know the doctor, then using an internal email account is best. If you ask in person, he doesn't know you from Adam and you could be some sort of weird pervent who just came in off the street. But if you have an internal email account, then at least you have some credibility. Even though my email was not @med.school.edu, I noticed that my @school.edu address helped when I started using that one instead of my Gmail for this.

A weird pervert who came in off the street, stole a pharmacy tech uniform, and found a random doc to ask about shadowing? Totally a reasonable concern.

 

[aldol16]

A weird pervert who came in off the street, stole a pharmacy tech uniform, and found a random doc to ask about shadowing? Totally a reasonable concern.

Depends on whether the hospital issues pharmacy tech uniforms or not. In my experience, pharmacy tech dress code is white dress shirt and slacks. The name tag might do the trick but there's nothing wrong with asking via email. There are really only three things in life you really need to do in person. Birth, marriage, and death.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Depends on whether the hospital issues pharmacy tech uniforms or not. In my experience, pharmacy tech dress code is white dress shirt and slacks. The name tag might do the trick but there's nothing wrong with asking via email. There are really only three things in life you really need to do in person. Birth, marriage, and death.

Maybe I'm old school, but in situations where you're asking someone you don't know (or don't know well) to do you a favor, I think it's more professional and respectful to ask in person if possible. And you can easily do that without hassling them or interrupting them while they're working. You just might have to inconvenience yourself a bit. Obviously if it's not possible to ask in person, a respectful email works.

 

[aldol16]

Maybe I'm old school, but in situations where you're asking someone you don't know (or don't know well) to do you a favor, I think it's more professional and respectful to ask in person if possible. And you can easily do that without hassling them or interrupting them while they're working. You just might have to inconvenience yourself a bit. Obviously if it's not possible to ask in person, a respectful email works.

I definitely believe that's an old-school way of thinking about it, although I'm sure you're not that much older than me. Email is perfectly professional nowadays. As with phone calls or snail mail, there is a professional way to compose and send an email and a non-professional way. I think part of the problem is viewing such things as a personal favor. I'm not saying that pre-meds should feel entitled to shadowing opportunities with physicians of their choice, but it does kind of come with the job. I see it as similar to asking for a letter of recommendation. As an academic, I view it as part of my job to write letters for my students (given that I can write a good one for them). That's why I don't mind being asked over email as long as there's a more detailed personal meeting later on to discuss the letter. I see it as more of a responsibility than a personal favor. Maybe doctors feel differently about shadowing.

 

[freak7]

A weird pervert who came in off the street, stole a pharmacy tech uniform, and found a random doc to ask about shadowing? Totally a reasonable concern.

This actually happened 2 weeks ago at my hospital. Dude came in, stole a doc's coat and found a stethoscope and tried to get scripts

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Does the hospital have a shadowing coordinator?
Randomly found this for example:
http://www.gwinnettmedicalcenter.org/programs-and-classes/shadowing
Those are their guidelines..
Some hospitals might have a waiting list, etc

 

[aalamruad]

This actually happened 2 weeks ago at my hospital. Dude came in, stole a doc's coat and found a stethoscope and tried to get scripts

But was he a pervert though

 

[freak7]

But was he a pervert though

I can neither confirm nor deny what the footage showed...

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I definitely believe that's an old-school way of thinking about it, although I'm sure you're not that much older than me. Email is perfectly professional nowadays. As with phone calls or snail mail, there is a professional way to compose and send an email and a non-professional way. I think part of the problem is viewing such things as a personal favor. I'm not saying that pre-meds should feel entitled to shadowing opportunities with physicians of their choice, but it does kind of come with the job. I see it as similar to asking for a letter of recommendation. As an academic, I view it as part of my job to write letters for my students (given that I can write a good one for them). That's why I don't mind being asked over email as long as there's a more detailed personal meeting later on to discuss the letter. I see it as more of a responsibility than a personal favor. Maybe doctors feel differently about shadowing.

Yep. I have asked for things and corresponded via email numerous times. Being in the military demands it. That may be actually why I try to do things in person if I can. I don't think either way is necessarily wrong, but I'd still rather go in person if I don't know the individual. You are harder to ignore in person.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Yep. I have asked for things and corresponded via email numerous times. Being in the military demands it. That may be actually why I try to do things in person if I can. I don't think either way is necessarily wrong, but I'd still rather go in person if I don't know the individual. You are harder to ignore in person.

I agree with you. I was an ER volunteer desperate for shadowing. Printed my cv with my gpa and mcat and then just asked the first ER doctor I saw. She was very nice and I got some good shadowing done.