How to get shadowing opportunities?

[Fluffyone]

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Hi, I'm an undergrad and am trying to look for doctors to shadow. I am going to be able to shadow the pediatrician that I had when I was younger. This is the only shadowing oppurtunity that has come my way. How do I find more doctors to shadow?

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[Dox4lyfe]

Ask your pediatrician if she knows any other physicians you can shadow. Physicians tend to know one another.

Some hospitals have formal shadowing programs. Look at every hospital within 20 miles and see if they have such a program. Some smaller hospitals also tend to have volunteer offices that are nice enough to lowkey hook you up with a physician.

Try cold calling physicians and ask if you can shadow for a few hours. It might take 200 calls but you'll eventually find a nice enough physician. Once you get in for a few hours, you can then ask to come back again for more. This method is extremely inefficient, but it is the only option for many applicants.

Find any private practices near your home and see if you can shadow the physician there. After your first visit, you can ask to come back for more hours. You can also ask if they know other types of physicians.

If you have any friends or family that have physician parents, ask if you can shadow them.

The hardest part is getting your foot in the door. After that, it's all about making connections and networking.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi, I'm an undergrad and am trying to look for doctors to shadow. I am going to be able to shadow the pediatrician that I had when I was younger. This is the only shadowing oppurtunity that has come my way. How do I find more doctors to shadow?

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Dox4lyfe has good suggestions. You might hit on your parents' docs, too. It's harder for a physician to say no when you have a connection to them.

But if all other efforts fail, pediatric shadowing alone can be sufficient, as most deal with a wide variety of age groups, including young adults who are home during college breaks, or those still on their parents' insurance.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Ask any doctor that treats you. That's always a good place to start. Also, use any and all connections you have? Mom/Dad a nurse? Best friend's mom is a PA? Ask them to hook you up with a doctor. Premeds often do the wrong thing when looking for shadowing: she/he thinks "I'm going to be a pediatric interventional cardiologist so I need to shadow one" and the limited amount of them either don't respond to e-mails or politely say no. While its very admirable the student is so goal driven, they sometimes can't find the ideal opportunity. This is where you need to compromise: Take any primary care doctor. Peds, family medicine, IM are all great doctors to shadow. Maybe an IM nephrologist will let you shadow her/him; its not peds interventional cards, but, its something.

E-mails are ok, but be prepared for lots of silent rejections. If there's any local private practices near your home/town, those are much easier to shadow in. I personally just showed up and asked the receptionist if she could give my letter to one of the docs there to see if anyone would let me follow them around there for 1 or 2 days a week, and one wanted to meet me, he said I was welcome to shadow him, and that was the end of that 😀.

Also, if you had med student friends, they all know docs and can hook you up.