No One Will Let Me Shadow Them!!

[SportsJunkie25]

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Is it just me or are you guys having a hard time finding physicians to let you shadow them? When I was in undergrad, it was easier to find people to shadow but now that I'm in a different state, and I don't know anyone, I can't find anyone to let me shadow them.

I guess people aren't fond of randoms shadowing them? Ugh! Any words of wisdom? Also, I'm living in an area that doesn't really put too much effort into education so that's another reason why I can't find people to allow me to shadow (and why I want to move). "What? Why do you want to shadow?" 🙄

 

[Trismegistus4]

Is it just me or are you guys having a hard time finding physicians to let you shadow them? When I was in undergrad, it was easier to find people to shadow but now that I'm in a different state, and I don't know anyone, I can't find anyone to let me shadow them.

I guess people aren't fond of randoms shadowing them? Ugh! Any words of wisdom? Also, I'm living in an area that doesn't really put too much effort into education so that's another reason why I can't find people to allow me to shadow (and why I want to move). "What? Why do you want to shadow?" 🙄

One thing I would have tried, if I hadn't found people to shadow through other means first, is to contact the alumni office of your undergrad and ask for a list of any local physicians who went to your alma mater. People might be happy to help out a fellow graduate of wherever you went to college.

 

[Sporknife]

What is your approach for requesting a physician to mentor? I find it effective when I KISS ass. Write a nice letter of interest, starting off with stroking their ego and then integrate why you want to shadow them particularly.

 

[futureboy]

What is your approach for requesting a physician to mentor? I find it effective when I kick ass. Write a nice letter of interest, starting off with stroking their ego and then integrate why you want to shadow them particularly.

I assume you mean you are more effective if you KISS ass? I would think that it would be a more effective way to find a physician to mentor you than to kick his or her ass... 🙂

Darn typos...

 

[NonTradMed]

Alumni office is the easiest. Ask them to refer you to local physicians who are alumni in your area who would allow you to shadow them. I find most physicians are very open to the idea of mentoring student. Another option is to contact the local hospital volunteer services and see what they can do. Also, the local university (if there's one around) may have a premed club/biology club that has shadowing programs in place.

 

[Sporknife]

I assume you mean you are more effective if you KISS ass? I would think that it would be a more effective way to find a physician to mentor you than to kick his or her ass... 🙂

Darn typos...

LOL, it must of been late! YES, KISS ASS rather!

 

[dragonfly99]

Good ideas above, including contacting the volunteer services department at local hospital(s), contacting your alma mater to find local alumni physicians. Also you could telephone or write or email your state or local (i.e. city or county) medical society.

 

[ChairmanMao]

It may also be about how you present yourself when you ask others to let you shadow them. When I started calling and e-mailing physicians to shadow in college, I ran into a lot of problems because I didn't adequately prepare myself.

I'd show up to doctor's office, and the doctor would ask me why I wanted to become a doctor, what I hope to learn from shadowing them, and what specialties interested me and why, those types of basic questions. I wasn't prepared to answer any of those questions and they probably thought that I was sloppy and not serious about going to medical school, so I didn't hear anything back from them after that.

Before you present yourself, make sure you familiarize yourself with the medical profession. Understand why you want to become a doctor and research the specialties that you're interested in. Do a couple of mock interviews and be prepared to spend 10-20 minutes talking about what you hope to learn from the shadowing experience. It would also help if you write a cover letter and a resume before you e-mail the physicians at the local hospital or medical center. These things aren't done by the seat of the pants anymore.

 

[NTF]

Try the AOA mentoring program.

http://www.ilearn.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?pageid=ment_exchange

 

[soldier2surgeon]

I shadowed in a military hospital, which is slightly different. But I first spoke with the Deputy Commander for Clinical Services, who basically gave me the go ahead to shadow. While he gave me permission to be in his hospital, I was on my own to find physicians to work with. I then enrolled as an American Red Cross volunteer. As mentioned above, you might want to contact the Red Cross or volunteer office in your local hospital because there will be some occupational health stuff and HIPAA training that they might make you go through.

Once I was inprocessed and I had my nifty volunteer name tag, I pretty much roamed the hospital and ambushed random doctors with "Whats up doc? Mind if I shadow ya?" I was surprised at how well it worked. I hit up an opthamologist and an hour later, I was looking at someones retina through a teaching scope. I barged into the surgery clinic and the next morning, I was in the OR watching a lap chole. The majority of physicians I came across were eager to share their experiences with me. The hardest part was going into clinics and offices that I was unfamiliar with and asking the questions.

I would suggest going to your local hospital, and finding out what sort of administrative stuff you need to do to see patients. Once you've done that, just start asking everyone you see. Just remember to be uber nice to everyone you come across in the process. The secretary or front desk clerk might be the gate keeper to the shadowing experience you're looking for.

 

[flip26]

I have encountered lots of resistance to shadowing requests where I live, too (not just me, but others have the same problem). I think it is kind of geographical or cultural - some places it seems more of an accepted practice, and in others it is not.

I also think shadowing is vastly overrated. You should have at least some shadowing experiences, but it is far more important to have plenty of clinical experiences, particularly through volunteering.

 

[Styria]

One of the big things I ran into when trying to shadow doctors was the response from their staff asking if I was a medical student. They seemed to think I was trying to schedule a clinical rotation. But setting them straight never seemed to get anywhere.

Go to the main offices for physician groups that are attached to local hospitals. They'll probably have someone who takes care of shadowing requests as part of a larger job. But that person will know which doctors already have someone shadowing or doing a clinical rotation, which ones are too busy and turned down the last request, etc. They might even call the offices you're interested in for you to get permission, and tell you who to ask for when you're setting up times. Take advantage of their own network and connections to get in.

 

[MNresident]

Is it just me or are you guys having a hard time finding physicians to let you shadow them? When I was in undergrad, it was easier to find people to shadow but now that I'm in a different state, and I don't know anyone, I can't find anyone to let me shadow them.

I guess people aren't fond of randoms shadowing them? Ugh! Any words of wisdom? Also, I'm living in an area that doesn't really put too much effort into education so that's another reason why I can't find people to allow me to shadow (and why I want to move). "What? Why do you want to shadow?" 🙄

if i can be of any help to you, I called some of my local hospitals to shadow their pharmacists and dosimetrists. the pharmacy department allowed me to shadow their pharmacists but the radiology dept refused to let me shadow their dosimetrists. depends...i guess on the dept policy. many of the "bigger" places have strict policies on shadowing b/c of HIPAA *that is what i told* try clinics maybe or take a visit to your own doctor.

 

[Deepa100]

Interesting. If a non-trad, foreign-born, mom of one could do it, you can too! Just try the AOA mentor site and make some cold calls. That is what I did and got 35hrs out of it.

 

[student1799]

If you're too shy to cold-call doctors you don't know, there is another way to get shadowing opportunities: hospital volunteer work. I volunteered in the ED of a teaching hospital as part of a clinical research program, and the program scheduled me for 3 4-hour shifts every semester where I shadowed EM residents. (Since I was there 4 semesters, I got 12 of these shifts.) This was fantastic experience which I'm really glad to have had.

Even if you're not part of a special program, you may be able to arrange shadowing through your hospital's volunteer office, or informally by asking doctors you've met in the department where you volunteer. Since you will have had to go through the hospital's HIPAA training in order to volunteer there, they shouldn't object to your shadowing on HIPAA grounds.

 

[Studebug]

No physician would let me shadow them. I called about 10 including my OB and primary physician. The answer I always got was they couldn't because of insurance policies. My primary physician is works in an group affiliated with the med school.

I touched base with my friend who was a pediatrician. She sent one email to some physician friends of her's. I got to shadow her and an OB. Guess what! The OB that I shadowed in a SURGERY day was part of the same group that my OB was. Remember- they originally told me no because of insurance reasons. Interesting very interesting. That was my first realization about what a tight knit group physicians can be.

During my interview one physician/interviewer said that I might get more shadowing to make my application stronger. I explained to him what I had been through. He said to contact the admission office of the med school and they would give me contacts of physicians that would let me shadow them. You might try that if you live near a med school. I live 5 minutes from Quillen.

 

[SportsJunkie25]

Hey!

Thank you for all of the responses...I'll try some of those. One post asked me how I went about trying to get a physician to shadow me. I'm not shy so I've just been cold-calling...and...zippo! I'm in NV and the closest med school is about 8hrs away...or in a different state. I called the children's hospital (we only have 1 and it's kind of small) and they told me I could volunteer...only at the help desk. 🙄 I'm trying to get clinical exp but it seems like, in NV, you need to know someone.

I went to college far, far away from here so I'm sure there is no one in NV practicing, but, I can always give it a shot though. Besides that, you think a college will let me mooch off of their pre-med hookups (even if I'm not a student there)? 😀

 

[loykastj]

I just Google map'ed the closest family practice doc to my house and he happily took me on to shadow.
Try finding a smaller practice with fewer patients, and the younger the doc the better as they are still in touch with what it is like in this uphill battle and that we all need some help to get there.
The doc I'm with is in his early thirties, just finished residency a couple years back, has about 3 patients an hour in solo practice and is very eager to help out the younger generations, find someone similar to this and I'm sure you'll have some success.

 

[montessori2md]

Hey!

Thank you for all of the responses...I'll try some of those. One post asked me how I went about trying to get a physician to shadow me. I'm not shy so I've just been cold-calling...and...zippo! I'm in NV and the closest med school is about 8hrs away...or in a different state. I called the children's hospital (we only have 1 and it's kind of small) and they told me I could volunteer...only at the help desk. 🙄 I'm trying to get clinical exp but it seems like, in NV, you need to know someone.

I went to college far, far away from here so I'm sure there is no one in NV practicing, but, I can always give it a shot though. Besides that, you think a college will let me mooch off of their pre-med hookups (even if I'm not a student there)? 😀

Some docs may not be interested in having someone looking over their shoulder, and a lot of them hate the phone. You might try starting w/ community health centers (CHCs) or free clinics. Pediatricians can be notoriously hard to learn from b/c they don't want to freak out the parents. Are you taking classes now? It's easier to introduce someone to patients as "this is X, he's a student at XU", vs. "this X, this guy who's hanging out w/ me".