How to get Shadowing Experience

[yummypanckes191]

How do I go about shadowing a doctor? I will be volunteering at a hospital (hopefully) in a month or so. Is this a step in the right direction?

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[mattng]

Yes, I do think you are taking the proper steps. Once you are a volunteer, it is very easy to meet doctors. Introduce yourself, tell them you're a premed and that you were interested in their particular field and would like to know if you could shadow them. Tell them your expectations and how long you want to do it. It also depends on the doctor. Some really like to teach and will go out of their way to make sure you're learning from them. Good luck!

 

[FuturaDocta]

:sigh: ... shadowing is so bb-b-b-oring. I'd much rather keep volunteering for 200+ hours, which is actually enjoyable if at the right place. But, being someone's b#&@* for several days or months is just degrading. And, that's not even being a medical student yet.

If I knew shadowing was so boring, I would have been a volunteer first. Then, I would have asked a few doctors to shadow a few hours at a time. This would spice things up and you don't have to be limited to only following the doctors. You free yourself up to other things, like patient interaction. This would be a wiser path imo. gl

 

[FasterThanAll]

Yep. I started volunteering at a surgical center, and I simply walked up to a surgeon and asked. I think it might help to ask a younger looking doctor, they might remember all of the fun stuff they had to do to get to where they are now. In my experience, the younger guys have been more willing to let me follow them around.

 

[icalz]

:sigh: ... shadowing is so bb-b-b-oring. I'd much rather keep volunteering for 200+ hours, which is actually enjoyable if at the right place. But, being someone's b#&@* for several days or months is just degrading. And, that's not even being a medical student yet.

If I knew shadowing was so boring, I would have been a volunteer first. Then, I would have asked a few doctors to shadow a few hours at a time. This would spice things up and you don't have to be limited to only following the doctors. You free yourself up to other things, like patient interaction. This would be a wiser path imo. gl

Just don't underestimate its value to the adcoms. This is your opportunity to ask the doctors everything and anything....ask about sleep deprivation, ask about caffeine intake, ask about long hours, ask about insurance companies, ask about self-doubt, ask about their choice of specialty. The adcoms want to know one main thing: Do you know what you're getting yourself into? Or is your idea of what a doctor does based off a television show. The doctors I shadowed constantly asked me "do you have any questions?" They were very talkative. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them talk to patients, nurses, and other doctors.

 

[icalz]

How do I go about shadowing a doctor? I will be volunteering at a hospital (hopefully) in a month or so. Is this a step in the right direction?

Talk to your pre-med advisor and ask if he knows of anyone you can shadow. Oftentimes an alumni from your school will actually volunteer themselves to be shadowed.

Talk to your volunteer coordinator and ask them if they know of anyone who readily accepts a shadow.

There's also some decent articles on the internet that address this.

 

[LRAccord624]

I got on the website of a nearby children's hospital, clicked "find a physician" and then over time I picked a few doctors with specialties I was interested in. So then I emailed them, explained that I was pre-med and very interested in their specialty, and would they mind if I came and spent some time with them to see what their career is like on a day to day basis. Every doctor I talked to was very nice and enthusiastic about helping me out. An it doesn't matter their age- the only doctor who I did not enjoy being around was the youngest doctor out of the bunch.

 

[arrivee]

Ditto what LRAccord624 said -- that's one sure way of finding someone.

And don't underestimate the fun in shadowing! It's all about finding the right doctor -- one who LOVES to teach. I have had some incredible experiences (that definitely were way more enjoyable than volunteering in the E.R.), but not every doc will have the time/inclination to spend that amount of time with you. If it's not what you expected the first time, don't let that stop you from trying again with another physician. I've been able to see some incredible surgeries, and one doctor every had me make the first diagnosis by the end of our time together if the condition was something that I had seen before. Sort of like being a mini-resident!

In short -- shadowing can be a truly wonderful experience -- don't view it as a chore!

 

[FuturaDocta]

Just don't underestimate its value to the adcoms. This is your opportunity to ask the doctors everything and anything....ask about sleep deprivation, ask about caffeine intake, ask about long hours, ask about insurance companies, ask about self-doubt, ask about their choice of specialty. The adcoms want to know one main thing: Do you know what you're getting yourself into? Or is your idea of what a doctor does based off a television show. The doctors I shadowed constantly asked me "do you have any questions?" They were very talkative. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them talk to patients, nurses, and other doctors.

very true. I ended up just asking questions the whole time. But, what can I say, it was during the summer and I just thought that following someone for several hours was kinda not fun. Then again, I learned what I didn't want to do for a living for other really good reasons. I guess you can use this as a process of elimination.

 

[ahmcadams]

1) Meet physician, whether through volunteering, personal contacts, school mentoring programs, recommendation of your own PCP, even cold-calling local medical center, etc.
2) Shadow.
3) ???
4) Profit.