I've become more and more certain about the idea of becoming a doctor, but something that would make me feel more confident about going into college as a premed student would be some experience. Is it possible to get medical field experience as a highschooler? Are minors even allowed to shadow doctors? What would be your recommendation on getting good experience, or what did you do to get experience? Thanks!
How to Get Medical Field Experience as a Highschooler?
- Thread starter R2ski2
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You are totally allowed to shadow as a minor (at the discretion of the physician you're shadowing) and it is honestly the best way for you to get some exposure to the field at your level and see if it's something you might be interested in.
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You can shadow as a high school student like WedgeDawg said which would be a great opportunity for you to see firsthand what physicians do on a day to day basis. Also, you can probably find some programs that would let you volunteer as a high school student as well. I remember a lot of my peers volunteering at hospitals one day a week for a few hours. This may be something to consider as well.
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I am a current high school senior and I am participating in a job shadowing program. A doctor from infectious disease picked me up, and I shadow him once a month. Although he did refer me to a PCP when he was on vacation (I mentioned to him I was thinking about primary care but was open to other fields). When he referred me over to his friend who is a PCP (Both doctors are super nice and cool) I really enjoyed shadowing the PCP. The PCP is a D.O and a D.O school what I am aiming to go for. I would definitely just email a doctor and ask, or ask your PCP if you can shadow him/her for a day. I've been shadowing over Christmas break and I've really enjoyed it. I find FM to be really interesting. Message me if you want to hear more!
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When I was in high school I cold called as many urgent care clinics as I could find and told them I was interested in shadowing. After calling about 30 places and getting no reply I decided to walk into those places (professionally dressed and resume in hand) it only took two walk ins to find a place that let me shadow their physicians.
I also got experience by messaging my PCP and asking if I could shadow him. This process took a lot longer because the health system he worked for had a ton oh hoops I had to go through.
But in short, yes it’s absolutely possible! Best of luck to you.
I also got experience by messaging my PCP and asking if I could shadow him. This process took a lot longer because the health system he worked for had a ton oh hoops I had to go through.
But in short, yes it’s absolutely possible! Best of luck to you.
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I 100% agree, going in person is always better because they can put a face to a name.
Yeah, I am currently a highschooler and I was thinking of walking into clinics in person. If I did, what would I ask the person at the front desk? Do I ask to see the doctor or do I just ask the person in the front desk if I can shadow the doctor?
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I'd look for inpatient and outpatient. Call some local hospitals and ask for the number of the volunteer department/coordinator and see how to get involved. Most hospitals love free volunteers if you're able to commit a decent amount of time, but some will require X number of hours or for volunteers to work certain shifts, which is why you often see the elderly volunteering.
For outpatient I'd try cold calling a few clinics/places and seeing if the physicians would even consider it. If they say yes, then you can stop by in person. Some offices will straight up tell you no, so it's nice to know you're not wasting your time but showing up in person can work as well. I'd say FM and peds are the most likely outpt settings where they'd let you actually shadow, so I'd focus on that.
Ask your own doctor or any doctors your family or friends know if you can shadow them. If not, ask if they know anyone willing to take students on. Learn how to network early as it will be an essential career skill to have later.
The biggest thing is to not get discouraged if a lot of people say no. I found physicians pretty easy most of the time, but I know people who had to call/talk to 20 people or more before finding someone that would let them shadow.
This is a good idea, but if you're going to go to urgent care clinics and specifically want to become a physician, make sure you clarify that. There are a lot of NPs now who refer to themselves as "doctor" and this is a completely different career path and educational level (and the vast majority of the time there is a huge difference in ability to practice clinical medicine). So if you're going to go to an urgent care center (or really any outpatient practice) make sure to clarify that you want to shadow a physician, not any "doctor".
I would let the receptionist know that you are a high schooler who is hoping to become a physician and would like to gain experience with what the job is actually like. Let them know who you are and ask if any of their physicians would be willing to let you shadow them or if you could even interview them and ask them about their career and what they do. Sometimes you can interview them and they'll point you to someone who is willing to let you shadow them even if they're not. Leave them your contact information (doesn't have to be a full resume, but if you have one that's great) and ask if there's a timeline that you can expect to hear back by. I would not specifically ask to see the doc as we're often extremely busy and behind as it is, so they may not be willing or have time to cut out of their day for you but might be happy to schedule something for a later day. You may have to be flexible, as sometimes things we have scheduled or set in stone get changed or added to last minute, so if you get blown off or something it's likely not because they don't care, it's because something important with patients/administration came up.
Most importantly, be polite, professional, and understand that they are doing you a favor. If you come in with an entitled attitude or come across like they should help you, chances are you'll never hear back from them. Understand that you're not the low person on the totem pole, you're not on the totem pole at all. Any help they give will be as a favor and will be taking time away from their already (overly) busy day seeing patients.
Also should I start at shadowing at an urgent care or something first?
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Doesn't really matter. I'd suggest trying to get as broad of an exposure to medicine as possible. Family medicine is very different from emergency medicine which is very different from surgery which is very different from inpatient psych. Just because someone doesn't like one field doesn't mean they wouldn't love another. I'd say just dive in and try and see as much as possible over the next couple of years. If you end up not liking anything or feel like nothing really fits, then maybe it's a sign to consider a different profession.
Variety of exposure and opportunities is good though and I don't think there's really a "right" place to start.
