How to go about shadowing when having to deal with human resourses

[Chadori]

I've been trying to use this summer to shadow, but so far that has not happened. I'm about to begin my 2nd year of college.

I've tried to ask the local Memorial Herman Southwest if I could shadow there and they told me I had to contact human resources and get an approval from them.

I asked my pediatrician's office manager if I could shadow him and she said that I couldn't. Should I be taking another approach? Upon entering a hospital, should I ask the front desk people first? Or, should I look into specific doctors and call them and ask?

Today, I asked my friend's uncle who is a general practitioner and his responses was that he didn't want to influence me on what it's like to be a doctor due to my level of inexperience. He's right about the inexperience, but I believe that is where everyone started. He told me to contact him again when I have more concrete goals and he would try to help me out. He said it'd be some hassle when having to deal with patient-doctor confidentiality and having to explain to the patients what I'm doing in the room.

Should I take the approach of volunteering first? This way my foot is inside the hospital.

I have this M.D Anderson research shadowing opportunity, but they asked me for a CV which I don't even have. Do they just want me to list my academics? I've only been in college for a year and have no previous shadowing or research, but I do have volunteering although it is not medicine related.

edit - The types of medicine I want to shadow are emergency, physical and occupational therapy, oncology, and primary care physicians. That is just for now.

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[Doctor Strange]

Have you even tried contacting HR to get approval? From what you've said, it sounds like you just gave up when they told you to go through HR.

 

[kmp0410]

I've been trying to use this summer to shadow, but so far that has not happened. I'm about to begin my 2nd year of college.

I've tried to ask the local Memorial Herman Southwest if I could shadow there and they told me I had to contact human resources and get an approval from them.

I asked my pediatrician's office manager if I could shadow him and she said that I couldn't. Should I be taking another approach? Upon entering a hospital, should I ask the front desk people first? Or, should I look into specific doctors and call them and ask?

Today, I asked my friend's uncle who is a general practitioner and his responses was that he didn't want to influence me on what it's like to be a doctor due to my level of inexperience. He's right about the inexperience, but I believe that is where everyone started. He told me to contact him again when I have more concrete goals and he would try to help me out. He said it'd be some hassle when having to deal with patient-doctor confidentiality and having to explain to the patients what I'm doing in the room.

Should I take the approach of volunteering first? This way my foot is inside the hospital.

I have this M.D Anderson research shadowing opportunity, but they asked me for a CV which I don't even have. Do they just want me to list my academics? I've only been in college for a year and have no previous shadowing or research, but I do have volunteering although it is not medicine related.

edit - The types of medicine I want to shadow are emergency, physical and occupational therapy, oncology, and primary care physicians. That is just for now.

This is silly, and really not a big deal. All they say is "This is so and so, he's a student/med student" (whatever they want to say, doesn't have to be accurate). The whole doesn't want to influence you thing doesn't even make sense...

A good place to start is by contacting free clinics in the area, write up a resume and cover letter and send it to them (I've found the volunteer coordinator is usually who you want to contact). In addition send it to tons of Doctor's in the area, you won't hear back from most but some will stick.

My experience with hospitals is that you generally have to know the Physician first. Most hospitals have shadowing, but they don't exactly advertise it or really want a bunch of students there all the time. You will have to set it up with a physician.

If you really don't know any, then free clinics are a good place to maybe make some connections. Be personable with the Doctor's there and see if they have any opportunities or if they can help you find someone.

 

[Chadori]

Have you even tried contacting HR to get approval? From what you've said, it sounds like you just gave up when they told you to go through HR.

I have not and that is my fault. I guess it felt like a brick wall when I heard HR lol

This is silly, and really not a big deal. All they say is "This is so and so, he's a student/med student" (whatever they want to say, doesn't have to be accurate). The whole doesn't want to influence you thing doesn't even make sense...

A good place to start is by contacting free clinics in the area, write up a resume and cover letter and send it to them (I've found the volunteer coordinator is usually who you want to contact). In addition send it to tons of Doctor's in the area, you won't hear back from most but some will stick.

My experience with hospitals is that you generally have to know the Physician first. Most hospitals have shadowing, but they don't exactly advertise it or really want a bunch of students there all the time. You will have to set it up with a physician.

If you really don't know any, then free clinics are a good place to maybe make some connections. Be personable with the Doctor's there and see if they have any opportunities or if they can help you find someone.

For the volunteer coordinator, are you referring to the one that works for the free clinic?

As far as the hospital, how do I go about setting it up with the physician? Do I become a patient first? Go in for a checkup?

 

[ready2go2]

Try to find doctors who are alumni to your current institution. I find that they are more enthusiastic and willing to take in someone who went to the same school as them. Plus the interaction with the doc will be less awkward because you can talk about your school together during downtime.

You can find out where the doctor went to school by looking at faculty pages on hospital website or perhaps seeing if your school has some type of alumi network where you can get in contact with some in your area or just good ol google.

 

[PBShelley]

I've been trying to use this summer to shadow, but so far that has not happened. I'm about to begin my 2nd year of college.

I've tried to ask the local Memorial Herman Southwest if I could shadow there and they told me I had to contact human resources and get an approval from them.

I asked my pediatrician's office manager if I could shadow him and she said that I couldn't. Should I be taking another approach? Upon entering a hospital, should I ask the front desk people first? Or, should I look into specific doctors and call them and ask?

Today, I asked my friend's uncle who is a general practitioner and his responses was that he didn't want to influence me on what it's like to be a doctor due to my level of inexperience. He's right about the inexperience, but I believe that is where everyone started. He told me to contact him again when I have more concrete goals and he would try to help me out. He said it'd be some hassle when having to deal with patient-doctor confidentiality and having to explain to the patients what I'm doing in the room.

Should I take the approach of volunteering first? This way my foot is inside the hospital.

I have this M.D Anderson research shadowing opportunity, but they asked me for a CV which I don't even have. Do they just want me to list my academics? I've only been in college for a year and have no previous shadowing or research, but I do have volunteering although it is not medicine related.

edit - The types of medicine I want to shadow are emergency, physical and occupational therapy, oncology, and primary care physicians. That is just for now.

I had similar problems when I tried to shadow. Here's my advice. First of all, approach HR on your own (Google "X Hospital HR"), obtain and complete the paperwork. No matter where you shadow, there is loads of paperwork. Also, you NEED to be HIPAA certified. I took a free online course at my university (took ~2 hours), but I am sure HIPAA training is readily available online (again, think Google). Secondly, approach the hospital/physician in person. I called 4 local hospitals and left detailed contact information with zero response. I went in person (to the same hospitals) and ended up shadowing at 3 of the 4. When you do go, dress professionally and take your CV. That brings me to #3: make a CV. A CV describes your entire educational experience (typically, after freshman year of college, you shouldn't include any HS activities in which you are no longer involved, but do include your HS GPA). For pre-meds, you should specifically highlight research, volunteer work and clinical experiences (if any). There are many, many templates online that you can use (the career services of most universities also offer templates and one-on-one appointments for making CVs, especially if your university has a school of business). Trust me, I know that the whole process is a little overwhelming, but all of this background work is just a hoop through which we all have to jump. Best of luck!

 

[PBShelley]

I've been trying to use this summer to shadow, but so far that has not happened. I'm about to begin my 2nd year of college.

I've tried to ask the local Memorial Herman Southwest if I could shadow there and they told me I had to contact human resources and get an approval from them.

I asked my pediatrician's office manager if I could shadow him and she said that I couldn't. Should I be taking another approach? Upon entering a hospital, should I ask the front desk people first? Or, should I look into specific doctors and call them and ask?

Today, I asked my friend's uncle who is a general practitioner and his responses was that he didn't want to influence me on what it's like to be a doctor due to my level of inexperience. He's right about the inexperience, but I believe that is where everyone started. He told me to contact him again when I have more concrete goals and he would try to help me out. He said it'd be some hassle when having to deal with patient-doctor confidentiality and having to explain to the patients what I'm doing in the room.

Should I take the approach of volunteering first? This way my foot is inside the hospital.

I have this M.D Anderson research shadowing opportunity, but they asked me for a CV which I don't even have. Do they just want me to list my academics? I've only been in college for a year and have no previous shadowing or research, but I do have volunteering although it is not medicine related.

edit - The types of medicine I want to shadow are emergency, physical and occupational therapy, oncology, and primary care physicians. That is just for now.

Also, most physicians are VERY willing to take students, as they too had to shadow. This is especially true at university hospitals, as there are medical students everywhere. When I shadowed at my university hospital, the physicians rarely even introduced me.

 

[RCPreMD]

Almost any hospital you volunteer or shadow at will require you to go through an HR department, they at least need basic info and background to cover liability. My only advice is be very persistent, I have been spending the past 4 months going back and forth with paperwork and emails to try and get my ID badge to shadow a surgeon.

 

[Chadori]

I had similar problems when I tried to shadow. Here's my advice. First of all, approach HR on your own (Google "X Hospital HR"), obtain and complete the paperwork. No matter where you shadow, there is loads of paperwork. Also, you NEED to be HIPAA certified. I took a free online course at my university (took ~2 hours), but I am sure HIPAA training is readily available online (again, think Google). Secondly, approach the hospital/physician in person. I called 4 local hospitals and left detailed contact information with zero response. I went in person (to the same hospitals) and ended up shadowing at 3 of the 4. When you do go, dress professionally and take your CV. That brings me to #3: make a CV. A CV describes your entire educational experience (typically, after freshman year of college, you shouldn't include any HS activities in which you are no longer involved, but do include your HS GPA). For pre-meds, you should specifically highlight research, volunteer work and clinical experiences (if any). There are many, many templates online that you can use (the career services of most universities also offer templates and one-on-one appointments for making CVs, especially if your university has a school of business). Trust me, I know that the whole process is a little overwhelming, but all of this background work is just a hoop through which we all have to jump. Best of luck!

Thank you so much for this. I will be heading to UT on monday to take care of some apartment stuff, but while i'm there I will definitely visit the career center. My HS GPA was horrendous. Although community college wasn't too difficult, I managed to get a bunch of A's that allowed me to transfer to UT Austin. I really have no research under my belt right now nor clinical experiences. The only volunteering I have is at a children's summer camp.

 

[deleted393595]

Today, I asked my friend's uncle who is a general practitioner and his responses was that he didn't want to influence me on what it's like to be a doctor due to my level of inexperience. He's right about the inexperience, but I believe that is where everyone started. He told me to contact him again when I have more concrete goals and he would try to help me out. He said it'd be some hassle when having to deal with patient-doctor confidentiality and having to explain to the patients what I'm doing in the room.

Lol wtf?

1) I find it odd that he'd turn you down when he too probably had to shadow doctors during undergrad.

2) It's not a hassle to have to explain to patients about you. Whenever I shadowed about 6 doctors, the way the process worked was: "ElCapone's a pre-med student at Texas University of Awesomeness, and would like to be a bla bla bla. Do you mind if he watches?"

The thing though about this process is that you'll have to be persistent. Contact HR again if you don't hear from them soon.

 

[Chadori]

Lol wtf?

1) I find it odd that he'd turn you down when he too probably had to shadow doctors during undergrad.

2) It's not a hassle to have to explain to patients about you. Whenever I shadowed about 6 doctors, the way the process worked was: "ElCapone's a pre-med student at Texas University of Awesomeness, and would like to be a bla bla bla. Do you mind if he watches?"

The thing though about this process is that you'll have to be persistent. Contact HR again if you don't hear from them soon.

Should I be asking HR for some paperwork?

 

[whatbout2morrow]

I've been trying to use this summer to shadow, but so far that has not happened. I'm about to begin my 2nd year of college.

I've tried to ask the local Memorial Herman Southwest if I could shadow there and they told me I had to contact human resources and get an approval from them.

I asked my pediatrician's office manager if I could shadow him and she said that I couldn't. Should I be taking another approach? Upon entering a hospital, should I ask the front desk people first? Or, should I look into specific doctors and call them and ask?

Today, I asked my friend's uncle who is a general practitioner and his responses was that he didn't want to influence me on what it's like to be a doctor due to my level of inexperience. He's right about the inexperience, but I believe that is where everyone started. He told me to contact him again when I have more concrete goals and he would try to help me out. He said it'd be some hassle when having to deal with patient-doctor confidentiality and having to explain to the patients what I'm doing in the room.

Should I take the approach of volunteering first? This way my foot is inside the hospital.

I have this M.D Anderson research shadowing opportunity, but they asked me for a CV which I don't even have. Do they just want me to list my academics? I've only been in college for a year and have no previous shadowing or research, but I do have volunteering although it is not medicine related.

edit - The types of medicine I want to shadow are emergency, physical and occupational therapy, oncology, and primary care physicians. That is just for now.

You will still need to find a physician to shadow on your own. HR will probably just make sure you're aware about HIPAA, patient confidentiality etc.

IMO, becoming a volunteer might be a good idea. Mention that you are pre-med, and they probably send you somewhere where you have the opportunity to interact with physicians from time to time. When you are already a volunteer at the hospital, it might lessen the doctors' concerns about having to have you HIPAA certified separately.

I don't know about Memorial Hermann Southwest, but most of the hospitals in the Texas Medical Center are teaching hospitals for UT-Houston and Baylor. You might have better luck there.

Also, UT Houston & Baylor have summer research programs which provide you with the opportunity to shadow as well. I don't know if you go to University of Houston, but I know they have a shadow/research program with Texas Children's which I believe is year-round.

In the case of visiting offices, yes, talking to the office manager is the way to go, if you can't e-mail the physician your resume directly or something. Don't get discouraged; you will hear many no's before you get a yes.

A CV is like a more detailed resume which emphasizes academic and extracurricular activities, awards, etc. A lot of people will ask you for one in coming years, perhaps the career services wing of your college can help you frame one.

 

[catzzz88]

I have this M.D Anderson research shadowing opportunity, but they asked me for a CV which I don't even have. Do they just want me to list my academics? I've only been in college for a year and have no previous shadowing or research, but I do have volunteering although it is not medicine related.

I suggest you take more initiative. If you really want this, you will jump through hoops and do everything possible to achieve your goals. They tell you to go to HR so you drop it there, they tell you to give them a CV so you drop it there... This kind of thing requires work, research, and dedication!

Step up your game! We are all here to support you, but it sounds like you need some tough love!

Best,
Christina

 

[candbgirl]

Should I be asking HR for some paperwork?

For heavens sake just call them. It's already well into July. Make an appointment and go explain what you need. They will give you what needs to be completed. You probably will need a medical clearance too.

 

[Chadori]

I have a volunteer gig coming up where we'll be using horses to help kids with movement trouble. I would say its more of an occupational therapist thing, but it's a start.

On monday, while I'm taking care of my apartment situation in Austin, I'll also go to their career center and make a resume and CV.

As for memorial hermann southwest, they require a certain a full year of volunteering which I would be more than happy to do, but I'll be in Austin for school this fall.

Now, I'm not sure how many hospitals have that year-round policy for volunteering, but I am also going to check out the local methodists hospital.

 

[Chadori]

Thank you guys for the support, I am feeling more motivated now. I guess it was just one of things where I got discouraged because I didn't know how to approach it. None of my family members are doctors or even work in a hospital for that matter, but it does feel good to be the first batter up.