I need ATL doctors to shadow

[ladyo82]

Hi everyone and I feel like i'm starting from the start.

I graduated from GA State in 2009 with a typical Biology Major/Chemistry Minor Degree. After college, while studying for the MCAT, I took up a job as a teller. In the 3 1/2 yrs I've been there, I have been promoted 3 times, thus inadvertently puttung MCAT and med school on the back burner.

Now I have gotten to a place where I am being called back to my true passion. I currently have a not so great overall GPA of 2.25 but I am studying constantly to increase my MCAT score significantly to at minimum a 30. My first 2 years were not the best.

My biggest thing right now is that I want to be able to shadow some doctors. I live in Atlanta Ga, and would like to know if anyone out there knows of any doctors that are willing to have a someone shadow them on the weekends. M-F 8-6, I work. I have to make sacrifices but for shadowing, I only have the availability for Sat/Sun.

I volunteer voluntarily and I have worked in a pharmacy as a certified tech for 5 years. I have recommendations in place and am considereing post-bacc classes to help with the GPA though my science is a 3.2. AMCAS is a first for me, so I havent started that process yet. Im looking to start applying next year.

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[Euxox]

Unfortunately, no one is going to have a list of doctors who are looking for shadowers, especially when you start getting into specifics like Atlanta and M-F 8-6. The only way to find shadowing is to start contacting doctors yourself. Here are some resources:

How to get clinical/shadowing opportunities? (SDN)
how do you find doctors to shadow? (SDN)
How can I get a shadowing position? (SDN)
How Do I... Shadow a Doctor? (AAMC)

 

[gumdrops]

Hi everyone and I feel like i'm starting from the start.

I graduated from GA State in 2009 with a typical Biology Major/Chemistry Minor Degree. After college, while studying for the MCAT, I took up a job as a teller. In the 3 1/2 yrs I've been there, I have been promoted 3 times, thus inadvertently puttung MCAT and med school on the back burner.

Now I have gotten to a place where I am being called back to my true passion. I currently have a not so great overall GPA of 2.25 but I am studying constantly to increase my MCAT score significantly to at minimum a 30. My first 2 years were not the best.

My biggest thing right now is that I want to be able to shadow some doctors. I live in Atlanta Ga, and would like to know if anyone out there knows of any doctors that are willing to have a someone shadow them on the weekends. M-F 8-6, I work. I have to make sacrifices but for shadowing, I only have the availability for Sat/Sun.

I volunteer voluntarily and I have worked in a pharmacy as a certified tech for 5 years. I have recommendations in place and am considereing post-bacc classes to help with the GPA though my science is a 3.2. AMCAS is a first for me, so I havent started that process yet. Im looking to start applying next year.

Yeah, you have to start calling doctors on your own. Have you done research with anyone or do you have family friends who'd allow you to shadow? Unfortunately it helps a lot to have some connections to get into a clinic.

 

[ladyo82]

These were all great resources. Thank you.

 

[ladyo82]

And that is where I will start. I have family and friends in medicine and I will start with them.

 

[gumdrops]

Let us know how it goes. Best of luck!

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Yes, you'll need to do an SMP before you can think of applying. A 2.25 GPA will get you auto-screened out of most schools before a human even sees your application, no matter what MCAT score you have.

As for shadowing, you can try cold calling but be prepared for a lot of work and a lot of failure. If you have any connections you can leverage to get in direct contact with a physician, use them. Hell, maybe even try to shadow your own primary care physician or see if (s)he can put you into contact with another doctor. If you don't have any connections, your best bet is to volunteer at a free clinic for awhile and then ask a doctor there. If there aren't any free clinics in your area then try volunteering at a hospital (hopefully they'll let you do more than goody cart/gift shop duty) or any kind of clinic with a doctor in it.

I also decided to try for med school after graduating college and had to shadow while working a full time job. I ran into a few problems that I can guarantee you're going to run into as well. The first is that physicians are already reluctant to let pre-meds shadow them, but are outright suspicious of anyone who wants to shadow and isn't currently enrolled in school. My saving grace was that I was still involved with science and medicine after college so it was easy to see I was serious once they got past the fact that I wasn't in school anymore. Since you're working as a teller, this could be more of an issue for you, but if it is then all you have to do is do some clinical volunteering for awhile and you'll be good to go.

The other problem I ran into is that private practice physicians do not typically work outside of a 9-5 Monday to Friday schedule. Hospital physicians do, but good luck shadowing them with hospitals being so paranoid about HIPAA. I was told that it would be extremely difficult for me to shadow unless I could do it during 9-5 on a weekday. I was lucky enough to find a free clinic that had some evening hours I could shadow during, but for specialists I had to use up some vacation time at work so I could take time off to shadow them. I imagine you'll need to do the same.