How to Start Shadowing

[Papanaco]

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Hey guys,


I just finished freshmen year at college and was hoping to start shadowing as soon as possible.

I would really appreciate it if you guys could share some tips/information on how to attain a doctor to shadow.

I'm new here so if there is any information that you need from me, request in post please.

 

[justdoit31]

well you can use the search button and find numerous topics like this one...

basically you have to find a physician to shadow- usually people start with their personal physician or family friends and just ask to shadow. Then those people can sometimes set you up with others.

If those don't work a lot of people will just call offices and talk to the receptionist- expect 10 no's for each yes.

For me it was my family physician and a friend of a relative of a family I nannied for who was in the specialty I want to pursue. Turns out that specialist and I really clicked and I will be returing home for the summer break to research in her lab so connections you make in undergrad can be big in med school

 

[taylormade2006]

I just called a doctor's office, said I was a pre-med student and asked about shadowing. The doctor called me later the same day and set it up.

 

[CapnCrunch]

I just called a doctor's office, said I was a pre-med student and asked about shadowing. The doctor called me later the same day and set it up.

Wow. Wish it was that easy. Agree with first reply. Expect A LOT of "no's", "I'll get back to you, but not really", and unanswered emails. It took me a while to find someone to shadow, but persistence is key!

 

[JFK90787]

Finding the actual contact information for doctors was the hard part for me. I found an online white pages for some local hospitals which listed emails of all the doctors there, and went about it that way. And just to underscore what everyone else said, expect lots of "no thanks" and people not replying. Whenever I wanted to shadow a specific specialty, I would email about 20 people.

 

[schrizto]

Finding the actual contact information for doctors was the hard part for me. I found an online white pages for some local hospitals which listed emails of all the doctors there, and went about it that way. And just to underscore what everyone else said, expect lots of "no thanks" and people not replying. Whenever I wanted to shadow a specific specialty, I would email about 20 people.

wow, your avatar (with the cat) is pretty clever.

also, agreed with everyone else in this thread.

 

[taylormade2006]

Wow. Wish it was that easy. Agree with first reply. Expect A LOT of "no's", "I'll get back to you, but not really", and unanswered emails. It took me a while to find someone to shadow, but persistence is key!

It's a smaller community and the doctor is faculty at the school, so I think that helped.

 

[BenUstudent]

Refer to the link below: they break it down as to how to contact, what to say, what to do, and what to do after shadowing.
http://www.premedhell.com/home/category/shadowing

 

[deleted307836]

Also check if any of your local hospitals have formal programs for pre-health students that include shadowing physicians.

 

[pumpkin patch]

I contacted one of the guest lecturers from my HIV/AIDS course.

It's a great idea to shadow professionals from different specialities so you can get a sense of what working styles and environments you like (individual/team, surgery/inpatient/outpatient, hospital/private clinic, amount of patient contact, etc...), what you dislike, and why. If you keep these factors in mind, you will learn quite a bit about yourself, which will in turn help you develop stronger, more thorough responses for your interviewers.

 

[familyaerospace]

I asked three doctors of my own.

I asked my plastic surgeon first if I could watch him perform surgery once I completed say 50 hours of volunteering in Emergency (I am squeamish so I didn't want to go in immediately) and he was very supportive of that idea. So far I've been with him for about 13ish hours 5.5 hours plus however many hours I did last Thursday. I think it was 7 or 8.

I asked my neurologist second, but he didn't want me to shadow him because I'm his patient. He passed me off to another neurologist who I did 36 hours with. That neurologist gave me a list of primary care doctors since my own primary doctor didn't want me to shadow him either. My neurologist said he will help me find more doctors to shadow too. (I love my neurologist! He is awesome!)

I also tried finding doctors on my own but those haven't worked out well.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

This is a serious post and how I got my shadowing positions.

Try medical groups first. The coordinator will email all the MD/DOs for you. Don't depend on one place/doctor. And hope for the best. 👍

 

[taylormade2006]

I've also had better luck with private practices than hospitals.

 

[pumpkin patch]

I've also had better luck with private practices than hospitals.

Agreed. I shadowed at two hospitals, but those had 1) lots of paperwork (and immunization/TB testing verification) and 2) required background checks. Accordingly, they were scheduled much farther in advance and required lots of emailing/phone calls/coordination.

 

[Papanaco]

thanks everyone!

 

[ParthVader]

I just randomly approached a doctor at the hospital I volunteer at one day. He said he'll e-mail me later to set it up, and he did. After that I just asked him if he knew of other doctors in other specialties that would let me shadow them.

 

[FloatOn]

I picked a specialty and looked in the directory of names/emails on the hospital website. I emailed about 12 doctors each time and got about 4 responses in return. First person to respond I shadow.

 

[Xcellerator]

I emailed like 75 doctors that I found on Directories from googling, and ~15 replied back. I will be shadowing them as I go down the list lol.

 

[engineerhead]

Keep in mind that shadowing weighs little to nothing for adcoms. However, make sure you do it to expose yourself to the realities of life as a physician.

 

[Bojangles85]

Keep in mind that shadowing weighs little to nothing for adcoms. However, make sure you do it to expose yourself to the realities of life as a physician.

But you have to have shadowing hours, to "show" you understand what a physician does day-to-day.

 

[eembzee]

i agree with what everyone else have said so far too. i got my shadowing from family friends, and through a school program...im sure ur school has some pre-med program where you can make connections

best of luck!

 

[priss bliss]

I'd go with references from other people before cold calling physicians.

 

[getright]

I just went on a couple of websites of nearby hospitals. Some offer shadowing programs, makes it really easy.

 

[7starmantis]

I would agree with a lot of the posts here, but I would say an actual walk in, face to face conversation goes much further than random phone calls and emails. I walked into a place I had never been in, never even heard of the two physicians (private urgent care) and just talked with them and gave them a CV. Next day I was shadowing. Turns out the are both alumni of the med school I'm now attending. Dont underestimate the face to face contact in our chosen field.

I would say though, start with family friends, etc. That is by far how I got most of my shadowing.

 

[osteohopeful09]

If you want to do it in a hospital/sit in on actual OR operations, there's 2 ways.

1.) contact hospital and see if they have an official shadowing program. These are usually very full, so expect to call around at a LOT of places.

2.) luck out and personally know someone (eg, have a family friend who is a physician), to help you get set up.

 

[RuSkaya]

I just used the internet to find doctors in my area ... called one after the other until I found an office that told me to send over a resume and it worked out. The first 10ish offices I called said flat out that they don't take pre-med students