How to behave while shadowing??

[ilubse7en]

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so, it was my first time shadowing,
i shadowed a surgeon through some connections twice.
first time, he introduced a medical students and i followed her around, it was awesome, i was able to shadow a surgery.
the second time, i was supposed to meet him and the staff at early in the morning, i got there early, changed into scrub (i am not sure if i was supposed to ), but i waited in the wrong place, so when i arrived to the correct place, i was late.
then they went to the conference and guest speaker lecture.
after everything was over, he just dumped me to a doctor he didn't introduce and left...

the chief of that department was there, he introduced himself, so i introduced myself. but the other doctor that i was supposed to follow didn't introduce himself, i wasn't sure if i am supposed to introduce myself first or to staty quiet, so i stayed quiet, and when he looked at me, i just smiled...

the whole time i was just standing around and tried to follow around doctors and residents, but i really felt abandoned, so later that day, i emailed the surgeon thank you, but maybe i screwed up because i wasn't sure what to do email, he hasn't responded.
so i emailed him again, apologizing for the previous email and asked him if i could shadow him again, and still no response.
does this mean i can't shadow him again???
and if this happens again, what is the correct way to behave??
active and introduce myself to everyone or stay quiet until they introduce themselves first??

 

[mightymoose02]

so, it was my first time shadowing,
i shadowed a surgeon through some connections twice.
first time, he introduced a medical students and i followed her around, it was awesome, i was able to shadow a surgery.
the second time, i was supposed to meet him and the staff at early in the morning, i got there early, changed into scrub (i am not sure if i was supposed to ), but i waited in the wrong place, so when i arrived to the correct place, i was late.
then they went to the conference and guest speaker lecture.
after everything was over, he just dumped me to a doctor he didn't introduce and left...

the chief of that department was there, he introduced himself, so i introduced myself. but the other doctor that i was supposed to follow didn't introduce himself, i wasn't sure if i am supposed to introduce myself first or to staty quiet, so i stayed quiet, and when he looked at me, i just smiled...

the whole time i was just standing around and tried to follow around doctors and residents, but i really felt abandoned, so later that day, i emailed the surgeon thank you, but maybe i screwed up because i wasn't sure what to do email, he hasn't responded.
so i emailed him again, apologizing for the previous email and asked him if i could shadow him again, and still no response.
does this mean i can't shadow him again???
and if this happens again, what is the correct way to behave??
active and introduce myself to everyone or stay quiet until they introduce themselves first??

A doctor not responding to an e-mail shouldn't be that surprising if he or she works at a hospital. Maybe someone who has a private practice can control her schedule so they may respond here and there. From experience, I used to shadow/volunteer at Kaiser and their schedule is pretty much packed. I am pretty sure other hospitals are the same.

Even professors have trouble replying to everyone because they get bombarded by students. Imagine a doctor with a certain number of patients on top of meetings and possibly an obligation to their own family.

I don't think you should panic and worry about emails not being returned. He's just busy. Meanwhile, you can find another place to volunteer and shadow. It seems like you at least got to experience something so that's a positive.

 

[WorldChanger36]

First, Don't assume you did wrong with out being told directly that you have. In all likelyhood he or she is just busy and does not have time for you. Just thank him or her and move on.
Second, Most pre-meds don't shadow surgeons. Majority of shadowing is done with primary care persons, just because it is easier to accommodate students. You got what you got so be thankful you did. Doctors talk so if you seem ungrateful it is very possible the next doc you try to shadow will know about it.
Now I recommend you move on and try something lighter like Family Practice. No one expects you to know what you want to do at this stage so you should try everything. Shadowing is shadowing, it doesn't matter if you shadow a brain surgeon or a peds Doctor. The point is exposure. Even if the field is not your interest you should shadow there just to rule it out.
Third, Try to shadow DOs even if you are not interested in being a DO. DOs are more open to having premed students around because they know it is a requirement in order to get into a DO school. You can get in contact with them easier through the iLEARN Mentorship program.
http://cf.osteopathic.org/iLearn/index.cfm?pageid=ment_exchange

Don't worry about what happened before and if it happens again assume they are busy ( because they are) and thank them and move on. You will find the ones that will be good mentors.

 

[45408]

Third, Try to shadow DOs even if you are not interested in being a DO. DOs are more open to having premed students around because they know it is a requirement in order to get into a DO school.

Yeah, this wasn't my experience at all. This is a fairly weird claim to make.

 

[kpcrew]

when i did shadowing, i found a really awesome resident who graduated from my school a few years back. he let me watch him in the hospital and explained everything. there are many doctors out there, maybe you should try finding someone that you connect with better. i had a great relationship with my guy and that made it a really nice experience.
​

 

[ilubse7en]

thank you so much for so many prompt advise,
on my last email, i asked him if i could shadow him this thursday, so i am going to wait until tomorrow, and if he doesn't respond, thank him for the opportunity to shadow him and move on.

is it alright to bring cocoa mix or other flavored coffee and offer it to the doctors or is that too much of kissing a**?

 

[WorldChanger36]

Yeah, this wasn't my experience at all. This is a fairly weird claim to make.

I guess we are opposites on this one. It was my and many others experience that the DOs were more then willing to have us around and we found it easy to contact them using the iLearn mentorship system. Not that MDs were not possible, just we found more no answers then yes. Maybe depending on the OP situation he/she could find themselves more in my situation or yours. Beside I doubt it would hurt for the OP to sign up with iLearn and try to shadow a DO or two.

 

[jdok]

thank you so much for so many prompt advise,
on my last email, i asked him if i could shadow him this thursday, so i am going to wait until tomorrow, and if he doesn't respond, thank him for the opportunity to shadow him and move on.

is it alright to bring cocoa mix or other flavored coffee and offer it to the doctors or is that too much of kissing a**?

In the future, to save back and forth emails, give him a few dates you are available. That way he doesn't just respond and say "Thursday isn't good for me." In that case you'll be going back and forth if he even decides to reply.

Tell him you're availability is Thursday, Saturday, the following Tuesday, etc..and that way it will be easier for him to check his schedule and let you know.

Good luck

 

[deleted261193]

my surgeon told me to just call him the night before whenever i was ready to see a surgery. i don't know how "close" you are to your surgeon, but i barely knew mine, and he gave me his number anyway because he said i had a far better chance of reaching him via cell than via email. i know i've called before and he's been operating, but a nurse picked up and took my message to him and he called back later, so maybe going the phone route is best?

 

[Stumpyman]

I felt no difference between shadowing a DO and an MD. Also, shadow Primary care physicians, surgery is cool though.

 

[mightymoose02]

my surgeon told me to just call him the night before whenever i was ready to see a surgery. i don't know how "close" you are to your surgeon, but i barely knew mine, and he gave me his number anyway because he said i had a far better chance of reaching him via cell than via email. i know i've called before and he's been operating, but a nurse picked up and took my message to him and he called back later, so maybe going the phone route is best?

He must have really liked you.

I doubt most surgeons would just give away their cell phone numbers like that.

But good for you! 👍

 

[AvidAvatar]

my surgeon told me to just call him the night before whenever i was ready to see a surgery. i don't know how "close" you are to your surgeon, but i barely knew mine, and he gave me his number anyway because he said i had a far better chance of reaching him via cell than via email. i know i've called before and he's been operating, but a nurse picked up and took my message to him and he called back later, so maybe going the phone route is best?

As a person who used to coordinate doctors and patients over long time frames I can tell everyone that calling a physician is almost essential if you want to keep their attention. Doctors are busy and work in stressful situations. They often just put 'unimportant' things on hold and eventually forget about them.


As a physician I will do two key things to re-form doctoring ways:

1. I will write prescriptions clearly.
2. I will respond to all e-mails within 24 hours, even if that response is just 'I got your e-mail, give me some time to address it. Send it to me again if I don't get back to you in 72 hours.'

 

[coyotelime]

As a person who used to coordinate doctors and patients over long time frames I can tell everyone that calling a physician is almost essential if you want to keep their attention. Doctors are busy and work in stressful situations. They often just put 'unimportant' things on hold and eventually forget about them.


As a physician I will do two key things to re-form doctoring ways:

1. I will write prescriptions clearly.
2. I will respond to all e-mails within 24 hours, even if that response is just 'I got your e-mail, give me some time to address it. Send it to me again if I don't get back to you in 72 hours.'

+1. Spending some time in a dialysis unit taught me that nephrologists have a very tough job and do great things; unfortunately they are overworked and stressed which = horrendous handwriting (I could barely make out 1 letter LOL)

To answer your question, this is what I've learned from shadowing:

- Don't introduce yourself unless the physician does. If he/she stops in the hallway to speak to someone else and doesn't introduce you it may be because he doesn't want to dawdle (hopefully he hasn't forgotten about you)
- Depending on the physician, you will either feel very involved (as much as you can without touching the patients anyway); most of mine were the former who asked me simple questions and included me in discussions with the patient as much as possible(just a few asides to tell me what's going on here and there etc) or very detached from the whole situation (my gf had a physician who left her for like 2 hours in her office =\)
- Just remember that the physician agreed to have you shadow him/her, so chances are they will be nice about it. I feel like I've been fortunate, all my physicians have been extremely kind.
- I think it's a nice gesture to write thank you cards to the doctors afterwards. (Even the ones you don't ask for LORs from, then they know you really appreciated them!)
- Calling the physician's office and having the receptionist leave a note/message could be better than emailing/messaging, it all depends on what the doctor prefers.

Enjoy the experience! And if you don't, maybe that particular area of medicine isn't for you 🙂

 

[lkthlttr]

so, it was my first time shadowing,
i shadowed a surgeon through some connections twice.
first time, he introduced a medical students and i followed her around, it was awesome, i was able to shadow a surgery.
the second time, i was supposed to meet him and the staff at early in the morning, i got there early, changed into scrub (i am not sure if i was supposed to ), but i waited in the wrong place, so when i arrived to the correct place, i was late.
then they went to the conference and guest speaker lecture.
after everything was over, he just dumped me to a doctor he didn't introduce and left...

the chief of that department was there, he introduced himself, so i introduced myself. but the other doctor that i was supposed to follow didn't introduce himself, i wasn't sure if i am supposed to introduce myself first or to staty quiet, so i stayed quiet, and when he looked at me, i just smiled...

the whole time i was just standing around and tried to follow around doctors and residents, but i really felt abandoned, so later that day, i emailed the surgeon thank you, but maybe i screwed up because i wasn't sure what to do email, he hasn't responded.
so i emailed him again, apologizing for the previous email and asked him if i could shadow him again, and still no response.
does this mean i can't shadow him again???
and if this happens again, what is the correct way to behave??
active and introduce myself to everyone or stay quiet until they introduce themselves first??

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Actually, I feel for you. It is hard to know how to act in those situations. But I agree with the above advice that you shouldn't fret about the doc not answering your emails. He's probably just busy.

 

[CodeBlu]

Professionally?

 

[n3xa]

Yeah, this wasn't my experience at all. This is a fairly weird claim to make.

Same here.

Actually the ob/gyn DO I talked to seemed confused about the entire concept of shadowing when we talked things over. I just thought he was out of it because he was up all night catching one of those baby things?