Methods Used for Shadowing

[MortRainey]

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I'm curious what the various things are people do to get set up with shadowing various doctors. Do they apply to various services? Do they use a family or friend connection to get in touch with a doctor?

I've used a family connection and am unsure of what I would do without this. I know one of my friends doesn't really have any family members that work in health care, so he had to apply to a system that lets students shadow doctors. He applied six months before the date he was given to shadow, and all he got to do was shadow a nurse for 8 hours and that was it. From reading about the large numbers of observation hours people get when applying to medical school, I don't understand how a person with no doctor connections can get 50-100 observation hours.

 

[medguy13]

Yeah, I was lucky to have a family connection as well. Don't really know how people with no connections can get any shadowing. Must be tough.

 

[The Kraken]

In order:
1) Call any place that doctors work at
2) Ask politely, "Who would I speak to about shadowing physicians?"
3) Normally they ask if you're a medical student, say no, I'm pre med
4) Set up time and date or thank them for their time if they say that dont do shadowing.

Rinse, repeat, until you find an opportunity. Took me 3 hospitals. Its really easy to find opportunities if you take the initiative.

 

[rosaceae]

I have absolutely no family connections... so I met physicians through my volunteer programs and asked them if I could shadow. I mentioned it in person for some of them... and then for others I had emailed them (but they already knew who I was from the program). Even if I didn't have these connections from my program, I probably would have searched for physicians at my local hospital and then emailed them.

 

[chillaxbro]

Send out big batches of emails.
I do 50+ at a time. Did it 4 times and had 3 doctors agree to let me shadow.

 

[invissideways]

I find that emailing doctors that work at a hospital associated with a medical school also helps a lot since they're more used to having students in general be around. Ymmv.

 

[lazyindy]

honestly I got pretty lucky. Called up an interventional radiologist at Mt. Sinai, asked him nicely if I can shadow him for the summer..next thing he says: when do you want to start?

Some won't even respond to emails, so calling is the best method imo based on my experiences.

 

[487806]

Send out big batches of emails.
I do 50+ at a time. Did it 4 times and had 3 doctors agree to let me shadow.

This exactly.

 

[SpaceyWacey]

Send out big batches of emails.
I do 50+ at a time. Did it 4 times and had 3 doctors agree to let me shadow.

This wouldn't work in my area. It's nearly impossible to find a doctor's email unless you know them personally or are already a patient, and in that case you could just call them.

 

[deleted407021]

I am volunteering at a free clinic where doctors volunteer to treat patients on a weekly basis. They are happy to let me shadow them anytime they are in. You need to find a similar venue, where a variety of physicians come in on a regular basis and are comfortable enough with hovering volunteers to let you hang around. Plus, if medical students volunteer like they do here, they are keen to talk about school and just about anything else. At least find a way to insinuate yourself in a venue where physicians work. Good luck!

 

[KindofBlue]

It might be different by state or county, but nowadays it's getting pretty hard to obtain shadowing opportunities if it's a large hospital.

I was able to get some shadowing by calling private practices; orthopedic surgery, ophthalmology, family medicine, internal medicine, etc. Once you get to know the doctor pretty well, you could branch from there.

You could either walk-in or call and talk to the office manager and see if the doctor's schedule is open for shadowing students.

 

[physguy]

I recently went through my alumni database and looked for MDs near me (ugrad has med school as well) then emailed them asking if I could shadown them. This was only yesterday, but admittedly I haven't gotten any responses yet...

 

[The Kraken]

I recently went through my alumni database and looked for MDs near me (ugrad has med school as well) then emailed them asking if I could shadown them. This was only yesterday, but admittedly I haven't gotten any responses yet...

Emails can and will be ignored. Phone calls usually not.

 

[tennisgrlcc]

Some of the hospitals websites have emails for a few doctors, usually the university hospitals. What I did was send out a big batch of emails like the previous poster said explaining that I was interested in shadowing them and asking if it was a possibility. I got two responses and I took the first response because it was in the specialty I was most interested in. If you get a good doctor that is interested in really helping you they might be able to set you up with other physicians like mine did. Good luck!!

 

[487806]

This wouldn't work in my area. It's nearly impossible to find a doctor's email unless you know them personally or are already a patient, and in that case you could just call them.

That's why we have teaching hospitals

 

[kdangg4]

For me, I asked around the hospital I volunteered at. The doctors were more then happy to help. Good luck!

 

[yehhhboiii]

My school's premed office had a list of alumni who were willing to take students for shadowing. See if you have one