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I am clueless and so I would appreciate any tips or prior experiences.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
How to find shadowing opportunities
- Thread starter yellowcocopuffs
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1) Ask all your doctors if they will let you shadow them or if they can help you shadow others. My plastic surgeon has let me shadow him for several surgeries and my neurologist set me up with other opportunities.
2) Be prepared for a LOT of rejection if you contact people yourself.
3) You can try the DO mentor list, but I've tried contacting quite literally every DO on that list in a 2 hour radius of me that were listed as mentoring face to face and they just don't respond.
4) Also, dress nicely!
2) Be prepared for a LOT of rejection if you contact people yourself.
3) You can try the DO mentor list, but I've tried contacting quite literally every DO on that list in a 2 hour radius of me that were listed as mentoring face to face and they just don't respond.
4) Also, dress nicely!
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Talk to your school's pre-med advisors/club/etc.
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I am guessing that if you are like me your biggest barrier to starting shadowing is that you are afraid of contacting providers. Pick up the phone and call someone in the field that you want to shadow and ask.
You might get rejected a lot, but just keep trying.
You might get rejected a lot, but just keep trying.
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Try to ask a teaching hospital. These are usually larger, academic hospitals associated with a university or medical school. From my experience, they are more willing to take on students for shadowing and some even have shadowing programs (ie. during the summer).
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This is a good idea for people close to a med school. One caveat: many VA's serve as the teaching hospital for smaller MD schools. The VA is VERY protective of its patients and they are less prone overall to allow you to shadow. But, if you're a volunteer/employee there, it's a lot easy, because you're credentialed.
Also don't be afraid to ask your parents to ask their doctors, they probably see the doc more often than you do.
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The DO mentor list has worked very well for me since I moved. Before I moved, I couldn't get anyone to respond (in another state). I requested 8 mentors recently and have heard from five of them. One of them is truly awesome and he has already set me up with several others (both DO and MD physicians) and said that he would like to be a long term mentor. I live two hours from my school, but the hospital is one block away from that school. I told them I was a student there and I think it may have helped. They also didn't seem to have tons of pre-med students trying to shadow this summer so that may have helped me as well
I was also given a contact in human resources at the hospital and she has set me up with several shadowing experiences starting next week. It's nice if a hospital has a shadowing program or if you can find any mentors that will be willing to help you find other physicians. If I wouldn't have had as much success with the DO mentor program, I would have just started cold calling and anticipated a lot of rejection.- Joined
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So, basically, my best bet would be to just call the doctors in the phone book?
Also, how much in advance should I call to find shadowing opportunities. For example, if I want to shadow in December, should I be calling NOW?
Also, how much in advance should I call to find shadowing opportunities. For example, if I want to shadow in December, should I be calling NOW?
I'm not sure how long before you should ask the doctor, but I don't think it would hurt to start asking now.
What types of doctors interest you? Make a list, and then check out the local doctors in your area. Just give them a call, I'm sure they'd love share their knowledge and advice with you.
What types of doctors interest you? Make a list, and then check out the local doctors in your area. Just give them a call, I'm sure they'd love share their knowledge and advice with you.
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I personally had a bad experience trying to go through the med school at my undergrad school. I think it's best to start with personal contacts.
Do you have any friends whose parents are doctors? Any family friends that are doctors? I knew a few. Even if they aren't in the field you are looking for, it can be a good experience and open your mind to other fields. In addition, a lot of doctors have other doctor friends, so you could ask them if they know anyone in the field you are looking into.
Do you volunteer at a hospital or another type of clinical atmosphere? (If not you might want to work on that too...) That might be a good place to look for potential opportunities.
Another place would be your own doctors (like someone above mentioned).
I have never had anyone say no, but then again, I've never completely randomly contacted anyone. I think that most doctors do indeed want to share their knowledge! One of the reasons I think it's best to stay away from big, teaching hospitals, at least at first, is that the doctors there tend to be really busy and already have a lot of other students under them, perhaps making them less perceptive as having a shadow is less of a novelty to them.
Just my opinion!
Do you have any friends whose parents are doctors? Any family friends that are doctors? I knew a few. Even if they aren't in the field you are looking for, it can be a good experience and open your mind to other fields. In addition, a lot of doctors have other doctor friends, so you could ask them if they know anyone in the field you are looking into.
Do you volunteer at a hospital or another type of clinical atmosphere? (If not you might want to work on that too...) That might be a good place to look for potential opportunities.
Another place would be your own doctors (like someone above mentioned).
I have never had anyone say no, but then again, I've never completely randomly contacted anyone. I think that most doctors do indeed want to share their knowledge! One of the reasons I think it's best to stay away from big, teaching hospitals, at least at first, is that the doctors there tend to be really busy and already have a lot of other students under them, perhaps making them less perceptive as having a shadow is less of a novelty to them.
Just my opinion!
