HOW TO SHADOW

[Ash_723]

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What's the proper and polite way to ask a doctor if you can shadow them?

 

[mimelim]

Use all caps in your e-mail subject.

 

[G_Marker]

I've heard that people will send out a ton of short emails to physicians, requesting a shadowing opportunity. I'm not sure this is that successful, but if you email enough doctors, you might get one or two replies. Another way is by knowing a doctor (neighbor, friend of family, family member, etc). I had one shadowing opportunity through my school, which put me in contact with a surgeon alumnus who liked to take on pre-med students for a week.

 

[Doctor Dream]

I emailed the physician recruiter of the hospital I work at and she was able to set me up with 4 different doctors over the summer.

 

[Keladry]

I was sort of grasping at straws for connections - my dad's cousin (who I had met once before) worked as a lawyer for a hospital, so I got in touch with her and she helped me get in touch with a doctor (who I had to call back zillions of times before I actually got through to him); I messaged a kid I knew (who was in love with me in 3rd grade) whose father was an anesthesiologist, who set me up with shadowing several surgeons. Cold-calling/emailing may work but it's definitely lower-yield, so if you have any vague/remote connections, try to use those.

 

[goft20]

Can I stalk you for a few days or weeks?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jared_the_great]

If you have any kind of friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend connection, definitely make use of that first.

But if you have to just cold call, I think showing up in person is best, and calling on the phone second best. Emails are way too easy to just ignore.

 

[RTC19]

I definitely echo the previous post in saying that if you have a friend/family/some other connection to a doctor, use them first. If you have one, your primary care physician would be a great person to ask.

If you are like me, and don't even remotely know anyone who is a physician, which necessitates "cold calling", Premed Revolution's blog post, Cold Call Challenge (link:http://premedrevolution.com/cold-call-challenge/) is a pretty good guide on how to be persistent yet professional when cold calling.

Some general tips for when you do get in to shadow:

- Dress professionally. Business casual is generally a good way to go. I am a woman, and I wear dress slacks, a nice button down shirt tucked in, a string of fake pearls and some professional looking flats with minimal makeup and my hair in a bun. If you are a man, I would advise a nice button down shirt tucked in, tie, and dress slacks (or even a nice pair of chinos) with professional looking shoes.

- Bring a small notebook and pen. However, for the sake of patient privacy, DO NOT TAKE NOTES IN FRONT OF THE PATIENT.

- Bring some good questions(examples: lifestyle, medicine as a whole, etc.) to ask the doctor when he or she has some down time to answer them.

- Act professional.

- Send a thank you note when the shadowing is complete. Throughout this whole process, bear in mind that the doctor is doing you a huge favor by allowing you to be there.

I am probably missing some stuff, so I would also recommend looking through other shadowing threads when you happen to have a few minutes.

Good luck! 🙂

P.S. I live out in the boonies, so this wasn't an option for me, but if you live in a large city with academic medical centers, they are usually really good about letting people shadow.

 

[Cypres0099]

If you are like me, and don't even remotely know anyone who is a physician, which necessitates "cold calling", Premed Revolution's blog post, Cold Call Challenge (link:http://premedrevolution.com/cold-call-challenge/) is a pretty good guide on how to be persistent yet professional when cold calling.

Thanks for the shout out RTC19. I'm working on putting together some email templates for those who aren't into the cold calling thing.

Also, great tips for shadowing. I agree with it all.

Ben