I am trying to write a "I beg to shadow you" letter

[Jumoke]

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to a physician I am hoping to shadow.
How do i construct this letter?
Any ideas what to say? For those that have written this kind of letter and impressed a physician you were trying to shadow, how did you write it?


Haters: Please keep any negativity away from this thread. I need help, not your philosophy. Thank you 😀

 

[Eiot]

My letter:

Dear Doctor,

I am a __ year from ___ University. I am currently taking all of my prereqs for medical school to apply in ___. If you are volunteering at their hospital mention it here (this actually helped me A LOT!) I am very interested in learning more about _____ specialty. any additional stuff about why are you interested in said specialty. I would love the opportunity to shadow you in the future.

Thank you for your time,

Your Name

The search feature is a wonderful tool.

 

[aspiring20]

to a physician I am hoping to shadow.
How do i construct this letter?
Any ideas what to say? For those that have written this kind of letter and impressed a physician you were trying to shadow, how did you write it?


Haters: Please keep any negativity away from this thread. I need help, not your philosophy. Thank you 😀

wouldn't calling the physician directly be the better approach?

if you really want to write an email, just keep it short, simple, straightforward, and direct. dont go on and on about how much you want to learn about x specialty. just tell him briefly about your desire to be a doctor and that you want/need someone to shadow to get an idea of the profession. be courteous and professional, but don't go around the bush like a seasoned politician; be direct and unambiguous and don't try to "impress" anyone.

here's a sample of what i would write

Dear. Dr. X

My name is John Smith, and I am planning to apply to medical schools in the near future. I really want to shadow a practicing physician in order to get a firsthand look of the profession, and I am wondering if you are able and willing to give me an opportunity to shadow you for X amount of time (say something about how flexible you are schedule-wise). I would greatly this opportunity, and I am willing and able to comply with all necessary protocols and regulations. Thank you very much for your time and assistance.

Sincerely,

Your name

PS: NEVER, and I say NEVER, "BEG" someone, especially when it comes to shadowing. while it is an important activity for your application, it isn't worth "begging" someone to allow you to do it.

 

[Gauss44]

The search feature is a wonderful tool.

Thanks for the example. This makes it easier to picture the question in a non-awkward way. Previously, "Can I shadow you?" somehow seemed very odd to me.

Imagine an episode of Beavis and Butthead walking into an emergency room off the street, "Uh, can I shadow you? Huh huh..."

 

[Doctor Strange]

Just call. It's way easier.

 

[circulus vitios]

wouldn't calling the physician directly be the better approach?

No because there's a 99% chance you will only talk to the secretary who may or may not pass along the message.

 

[Elevencents]

It's much, much easier to ignore an email than it is a phone call, even if its a secretary. I probably cold called 10 offices and had 3 agree to let me shadow.

 

[Eiot]

\
Imagine an episode of Beavis and Butthead walking into an emergency room off the street, "Uh, can I shadow you? Huh huh..."

 

[Gauss44]

It's much, much easier to ignore an email than it is a phone call, even if its a secretary. I probably cold called 10 offices and had 3 agree to let me shadow.

What do you all say when you call? My experience is that hospital receptionists tend to butcher messages.

 

[Gauss44]

Yay!!!

 

[TheLadyVanishes]

I basically found a sample shadow email from this website and made my own minor edits.
http://www.afuturemd.com/2012/07/how-to-shadow-a-physician/

I've never called so I can't speak to that approach. I have sent about 3-4 "cold emails" that went unanswered and wouldn't advise that.

What did work for me: 1.) Connections are important. I know an MD who doesn't practice anymore but had colleagues in the area who still do. My guess is that physicians are less likely to ignore emails from a reliable source and acquaintance.

2.) I agree with the quoted email in Eiot's post that you can use volunteering as a hook. Specifically if it's non-generic, or a unique program that the hospital is particularly proud of.

3.) Other successes included emailing a non-physician who works for a residency program (1/2 success rate) and a physician who is a residency program director (1/1 success rate). (Teaching hospital, naturally)

 

[Eiot]

I basically found a sample shadow email from this website and made my own minor edits.
http://www.afuturemd.com/2012/07/how-to-shadow-a-physician/

Yeah that one's pretty good.

 

[Elevencents]

What do you all say when you call? My experience is that hospital receptionists tend to butcher messages.

Short and easy to remember. Your name, I'm applying to med school [insert when] and am interested in shadowing so and so if they are able to accommodate, thank you.

 

[Jumoke]

Thank you, thank you, thank you all
I just used all the ideas in this thread to construct my letter

Why are you guys so awesome 😀

So grateful! 😍

 

[Jumoke]

Here's my letter, thanks to you all

--------------
Hi Dr. X,
I met you on Saturday evening at ___. I really want to shadow a practicing physician in order to get a firsthand look at the profession. I was referred to you by my Aunt Dr. Y who speaks very highly of you.

[Briefly 1 sentence about my educational background]. I am currently taking pre-reqs classes and studying for the MCAT to apply early next year.

I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to shadow you, and I am willing and able to comply with all necessary protocols and regulations. Thank you very much for your time and assistance.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

 

[FutureMD129]

wouldn't calling the physician directly be the better approach?
PS: NEVER, and I say NEVER, "BEG" someone, especially when it comes to shadowing. while it is an important activity for your application, it isn't worth "begging" someone to allow you to do it.

Completely agree with this line!

 

[ProudMD]

Call the physician directly and say the following:

"My name is XYZ, and I am planning to apply to medical schools. I am wondering if I can come to your office/practice and shadow you for a period of time?"

There'e absolutely no need to "beg" or even write a letter. Anything more than the above line is overkill and not necessary.

 

[Samir Desai]

Some great tips have already been offered. Agree with the point made by TheLadyVanishes about utilizing connections. Basically anyone that you know who has a doctor, works for a doctor, or works with a doctor should be viewed as a connection that can help you get the shadowing position you desire. Whether you're cold calling or sending emails, it's hard for a doctor to not respond when your message includes the name of someone who has a direct relationship with the doctor. Not everyone will get back to you but with some persistence, you'll land a position.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

What worked for me was to show up at their practice and leave a cover letter and resume with the front desk. Almost every doctor got back to me very quickly when I did this. I think making the effort to actually show up in person shows how serious you are about it.

 

[FutureMD129]

FindMeOnTheLinks, I'm thrilled to see your response as I was wondering if it's okay to show up at the doctor's office and inquire about shadowing opportunities. I have an interview tomorrow with a pediatric practice that is in a building with many medical offices. After my interview, I am thinking about walking into doctor's offices and asking if I can shadow.

 

[operaman]

I made all my shadowing connections through my volunteering at the hospital. Pretty much every conversation included us talking about my plans to become a physician and most docs offered to let me shadow without me having to bring it up. For some, I would just ask if they ever had students shadow them. Easy as that.

The cover letter/resume in person thing sound brilliant. Not surprised at all it got such a great response. Keep the cover letter short obviously so it gets read -- a paper version of the above emails is fine. I'd just walk in and give it to the receptionist, tell them you're a student and would like to shadow, and ask if they can pass your letter on to the physician.

Emails also work, but will probably not have as a high a yield as real paper materials.

 

[Samir Desai]

FindMeOnTheLinks, I'm thrilled to see your response as I was wondering if it's okay to show up at the doctor's office and inquire about shadowing opportunities. I have an interview tomorrow with a pediatric practice that is in a building with many medical offices. After my interview, I am thinking about walking into doctor's offices and asking if I can shadow.

You can definitely use this approach but be professional in all your interactions. Dress well as if you are a medical professional (since you're going for an interview, I'm assuming you'll be well dressed). You never know - you may just meet the physician after you walk into the office. Even if you don't, you can be sure that the front desk will let the physician know how you came across. Make sure you get the name of the person who you speak to, and follow up with that person in a few days to see about the next step.

 

[FutureMD129]

I was already dressed professionally so that wasn't an issue. I first went to an internist's office where the receptionist said the docs don't let students shadow them. The next was a travel clinic which I found out is staffed by NP's, so no luck there. Then, I went to an ophthalmologist who said that ophthalmology isn't the best specialty for shadowing but that he'd let me shadow him if I couldn't shadow a doc in a more interesting specialty. By "interesting," he meant one of the primary care specialties, cardiology, or pulmonology. He also said ER is interesting, when I mentioned I shadowed 2 ER docs. Finally, I went to an internist's office where the receptionist didn't really understand what I meant by shadowing. I just explained it to her and left her my contact info asking the doc to contact me.