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I've sent out at least 50 inquiries for each and not a single positive response back. I live right next to a major medical uni. Any ideas for a guy out of school for 8 years?
How to get research/shadowing as a nontrad
- Thread starter Nontrad_FL_LGBT
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Your best bet is finding a job that combines both, clinical researcher that deals with patients and doctors. Start there and the opportunity for shadowing will present itself.
D
deleted1106140
I had success through contacting physicians in my alumni network from my undergraduate university to find shadowing. Perhaps you can try that? For research, you may have to find paid positions because I think most unpaid positions I have come across are reserved for students.
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For a paid research job, what "counts?" There are a bunch of coordinator/assistant/study recruiter positions open nearby but I'm not sure what would be the best to try for. It seems like coordinators do more admin work, assistants/techs do more bench work, and study recruiters do more of the interviewing/data collection.
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Finding shadowing was the hardest part of the process for me, especially since I was working full-time and either had to take vacation days or find night/weekend shadowing.
Things that worked for me and other non-trads I know:
(1) Ask your PCP, a family member's PCP, your specialist, etc. Ask any neighbors who happen to be doctors. Ask friends who went to med school long ago. Sometimes even if they say no, they offer to get you in touch with someone else.
(2) Volunteer at a hospital. Some doctors just don't want to deal with the paperwork to get you in the hospital. If you've already cleared the background check, etc., it can require much less work on the doctor's part.
(3) Cold email clinical faculty at the local university. Their emails are often published online. If their online profile indicates that they're teaching faculty (residency directors, clerkship directors, etc.), all the better. This is probably the lowest yield approach, but it ended up working for me. Attach your résumé – I got more responses when I did that.
If you're comfortable sharing what region you're in (here or via direct message), you might get more targeted help on here too.
Things that worked for me and other non-trads I know:
(1) Ask your PCP, a family member's PCP, your specialist, etc. Ask any neighbors who happen to be doctors. Ask friends who went to med school long ago. Sometimes even if they say no, they offer to get you in touch with someone else.
(2) Volunteer at a hospital. Some doctors just don't want to deal with the paperwork to get you in the hospital. If you've already cleared the background check, etc., it can require much less work on the doctor's part.
(3) Cold email clinical faculty at the local university. Their emails are often published online. If their online profile indicates that they're teaching faculty (residency directors, clerkship directors, etc.), all the better. This is probably the lowest yield approach, but it ended up working for me. Attach your résumé – I got more responses when I did that.
If you're comfortable sharing what region you're in (here or via direct message), you might get more targeted help on here too.
