Looking for advice - Shadowing Opportunity

[coal.under.pressure]

After maybe 4-5 months of cold calling and emailing physicians, I finally received a yes from a cardiologist for a 2-week stint in the ICU.

What an amazing opportunity right?

No one in the hospital is willing to do my paperwork. The physician says he has no pull and tells me I need to register with the volunteering office. Volunteering office says they won't do it because 'they have no positions for me at this time'. Pointing out that I just need them to register me turns into 'we don't do that'.

What would you do? Go over their heads and contact admins higher up?

Edit: cry like a baby?

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[curbsideconsult]

You won't get anywhere by contacting admins higher up.

Ask the cardiologist if you can shadow him in his outpatient clinic instead. That should be a lot easier than getting shadowing hours in an ICU.

 

[sunshinefl]

After maybe 4-5 months of cold calling and emailing physicians, I finally received a yes from a cardiologist for a 2-week stint in the ICU.

What an amazing opportunity right?

No one in the hospital is willing to do my paperwork. The physician says he has no pull and tells me I need to register with the volunteering office. Volunteering office says they won't do it because 'they have no positions for me at this time'. Pointing out that I just need them to register me turns into 'we don't do that'.

What would you do? Go over their heads and contact admins higher up?

Edit: cry like a baby?

Unfortunately there is a lot of liability and confidentiality issues in healthcare that make shadowing difficult, even with a willing physician. There’s HIPAA training, background checks, immunization and health screening, etc, and the hospital doesn’t want to deal with/pay for the time/personnel just to clear someone to shadow. As mentioned above, you’ll have a better shot at outpatient clinics.

 

[esob]

You might also see if they practice at more than one hospital (many do). Some hospitals, especially those that are teaching hospitals, are much more amenable to allowing shadowing. I still feel shadowing was the hardest thing to get done on the checklist as a non-trad.

 

[Campana]

I have to admit that I had this same experience...it's one of those weird expectations that is easy for some and next to impossible for others. And so, of course, for those who had success, it's hard to fathom how the rest of us are so clueless that we can't make it work. The first shadowing opportunity I found was just as you describe...and they limited it to 1 visit / 8 hours max.

especially those that are teaching hospitals, are much more amenable to allowing shadowing.

This was the exact opposite of my experience. I was told that they'd have waaaaay too many pre-meds along with the med students and interns and residents if they allowed shadowing. However, I know that there was shadowing happening - just not through the proper channels - it was more of the favors network facilitated by social and cultural capital.

The shadowing I included in my app fell into two categories: Formal "shadowing": I hunted for friends of friends of friends until I found private clinic opportunities that would permit shadowing. Informal "shadowing": I occasionally used my hospital volunteering in the ER to ask the docs if I could "tag along" to see both the patient visit side along with the dictating notes, time on the phone that I already saw just being there. My experience was that the smaller the clinic, the more control they had over their own rules.

Keep going and you'll get something eventually - stay positive, try to build a relationship first. Perhaps in your clinical volunteering you can make connections with folks who also have clinic outside of the hospital. Instead of cold calling for shadowing, perhaps start with asking about meeting for coffee to learn more about their field and what they do, what they like and dislike about their job, what they wish they'd known when they were younger. You'll learn something, give them a chance to see you're a normal person, and perhaps it'll turn into an opportunity. Good luck!

 

[esob]

I have to admit that I had this same experience...it's one of those weird expectations that is easy for some and next to impossible for others. And so, of course, for those who had success, it's hard to fathom how the rest of us are so clueless that we can't make it work. The first shadowing opportunity I found was just as you describe...and they limited it to 1 visit / 8 hours max.

This was the exact opposite of my experience. I was told that they'd have waaaaay too many pre-meds along with the med students and interns and residents if they allowed shadowing. However, I know that there was shadowing happening - just not through the proper channels - it was more of the favors network facilitated by social and cultural capital.

The shadowing I included in my app fell into two categories: Formal "shadowing": I hunted for friends of friends of friends until I found private clinic opportunities that would permit shadowing. Informal "shadowing": I occasionally used my hospital volunteering in the ER to ask the docs if I could "tag along" to see both the patient visit side along with the dictating notes, time on the phone that I already saw just being there. My experience was that the smaller the clinic, the more control they had over their own rules.

Keep going and you'll get something eventually - stay positive, try to build a relationship first. Perhaps in your clinical volunteering you can make connections with folks who also have clinic outside of the hospital. Instead of cold calling for shadowing, perhaps start with asking about meeting for coffee to learn more about their field and what they do, what they like and dislike about their job, what they wish they'd known when they were younger. You'll learn something, give them a chance to see you're a normal person, and perhaps it'll turn into an opportunity. Good luck!

I had 1 teaching hospital that was not very amenable, but the rest were great.

 

[Mike Bagwell]

Maybe 20 years ago you could get away with shadowing the doctor without filling out any paperwork and just wearing a white coat and being introduced as a student by the doctor you were shadowing.

Today, play by the rules and make sure your presence is documented WHEREVER you are going to shadow. We live in a crazy world where the next person will try to bring you down just because.

 

[sumtimesuwonder]

Yeah its tough to get anywhere in this situation. I was an employee (scribe) in the outpatient clinic of a pulmonologist, and I often asked to shadow him in the hospital so I could see some bronchoscopies, maybe see a little bit of critical care, etc. Despite the fact that I was employed by him, because it was so annoying to get credentialed by the hospitals he worked at I never was able to shadow him during his inpatient rounds. It was kind of a bummer.

 

[coal.under.pressure]

Maybe 20 years ago you could get away with shadowing the doctor without filling out any paperwork and just wearing a white coat and being introduced as a student by the doctor you were shadowing.

This made me think of the "catch me if you can" scene. Do you concur?

 

[Mike Bagwell]

This made me think of the "catch me if you can" scene. Do you concur?

No, I meant genuinely finding a doctor who would allow you to shadow them even if the volunteer office had some red tape around the idea. I wasn't inferring that you could just walk into a hospital and start seeing patients.

 

[sunshinefl]

You might consider volunteering at a local community free clinic (e.g. Free Clinic for the poor type) that are run chiefly by volunteers. they have physicians, NPs, PAs, etc that you can shadow. If anything these centers are always looking for volunteers because they depend on them to run. As a non-licensed health care providers you can help in their clinics with admin stuff, simple volunteer tasks where you are in the thick of things in very needy population, and soon you are interfacing with the physicians of the clinic

this is a good start

Free Clinics | Free Medical Clinics | Free Health Clinics

I live in a modestly large city that has several free clinics and getting a volunteer job at one gives you a leg up in the medical school applocation process.

Dont overlook helping at free clinics. They can use your help and your application to medical schools will benefit in spades

Back in my day I did get some shadowing hours at a community free clinic.

However, I also hated it because they also tried to have me do way more than I was qualified for during my volunteer shifts. At the time I was an RN student and felt uncomfortable and unqualified for what they wanted.