No physicians to shadow!?

[BodyBuildingDOC]

Hey everyone. I’m just looking for some quick advice 🙂 I’ve been searching since early January for a physician to shadow since I have 0 hours of that so far. I’ve been through 6 docs so far here in NY that do not allow students to shadow. My premed adviser told me to go back to any docs I’ve ever been to and ask them, but that’s been only 2 docs in the last 15 years. Today they both also said they don’t allow college students to shadow. Now that’s 8 I’ve been through with no results. (The other 6 I’ve recruited from family/friends and a girl in bio class). Other docs have told me HIPPA regulations would prohibit me from shadowing since I’m not a healthcare provider yet. I’m striking out at every angle and my primary care physician said that “admissions committees keep changing the rules for what’s required to get into med school and unfortunately, no one asked us (the doctors) in the community if we were willing/able to take on students. I can’t even name you any docs around here that I could even refer you to for shadowing since that’s not one of the things we’re capable of doing with busy practices.”

I’m running out of time and options. Anyone have ideas or know a physician in the Western NY area that I could ask for help with this?!

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[crimsonkid85]

Hey everyone. I’m just looking for some quick advice 🙂 I’ve been searching since early January for a physician to shadow since I have 0 hours of that so far. I’ve been through 6 docs so far here in NY that do not allow students to shadow. My premed adviser told me to go back to any docs I’ve ever been to and ask them, but that’s been only 2 docs in the last 15 years. Today they both also said they don’t allow college students to shadow. Now that’s 8 I’ve been through with no results. (The other 6 I’ve recruited from family/friends and a girl in bio class). Other docs have told me HIPPA regulations would prohibit me from shadowing since I’m not a healthcare provider yet. I’m striking out at every angle and my primary care physician said that “admissions committees keep changing the rules for what’s required to get into med school and unfortunately, no one asked us (the doctors) in the community if we were willing/able to take on students. I can’t even name you any docs around here that I could even refer you to for shadowing since that’s not one of the things we’re capable of doing with busy practices.”

I’m running out of time and options. Anyone have ideas or know a physician in the Western NY area that I could ask for help with this?!

Your problem is two fold: you're in NY, an extremely litigious state, and you're probably asking the wrong kinds of physicians.
Private physicians make money based on referrals, which means their #1 goal is to keep patients happy. And as fastidious as NY patients are, they probably just don't want to bother with students.
You should go to a large academic center and ask to shadow. Large academic centers care more about training and education than patient satisfaction over stupid crap like how fast they got their ice chips. If you don't know anyone at these large academic centers, start volunteering in the ED and befriend the ED residents. Also -- take the night shift -- it's usually more relaxed at night and if there is down time it's easier to establish relationships.

 

[chillaxbro]

In my experience, it has been much much harder to get a shadowing position at a large academic hospital as opposed to private practice. All the large hospitals I tried had rules where they only allowed medical students. I couldn't even do it at my own university's hospital even though I volunteered there. I currently do research at another institution with a hospital and it has been 4 months since I submitted the required paperwork, proofs of immunization, drug screening etc etc and they still haven't finished processing it yet. For private practice, there was no need for any of that crap.

My tip is to try for private practice. And DONT EMAIL. In my experience, most doctors don't respond. Call their office and ask to speak with them. If the secretary refuses, leave your number and have them call you back at their earliest convenience. GL

 

[crimsonkid85]

In my experience, it has been much much harder to get a shadowing position at a large academic hospital as opposed to private practice. All the large hospitals I tried had rules where they only allowed medical students. I couldn't even do it at my own university's hospital even though I volunteered there. I currently do research at another institution with a hospital and it has been 4 months since I submitted the required paperwork, proofs of immunization, drug screening etc etc and they still haven't finished processing it yet. For private practice, there was no need for any of that crap.

My tip is to try for private practice. And DONT EMAIL. In my experience, most doctors don't respond. Call their office and ask to speak with them. If the secretary refuses, leave your number and have them call you back at their earliest convenience. GL

whaaat? ok dude when I was an undergrad shadowing was as easy as talking to my pre-med advisor (who is a med student) who said, "what specialty?" and I said "uh medicine?" and she said, "I'll email so and so." and within 15 minutes I had a date and a time to meet with a resident at a large academic center.

 

[baconshrimps]

Okay, so it sounds like people have all had very different experiences in getting shadowing opportunities. OP do you live in the NYC metro area or are you from a different part of the state?

 

[baconshrimps]

Okay, sorry I didn't see that your post said western NY. Do you live near the city of Rochester or Buffalo?

 

[Plecopotamus]

I had similar trouble back when I was a pre-med. If I were doing this now, I would try contacting any local residency programs and asking them if they can arrange for you to shadow a senior resident. You can find residency programs here:
https://services.aamc.org/eras/erasstats/par/

Do you have a clinical volunteer position? Have you asked the docs there?

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

OP, I also had a terrible time finding doctors who'd let me shadow. I was best able to get some shadowing in at an ER. Then I went to my gf's house over Dec break and again shadowed someone in the ER. It's become so cumbersome, since many doctors tell me about HIPPA rules restricting these things. My pediatrician offered, as did my eye doctor, but neither helped me out when I followed through. My best experience has been to keep trying. I finally lucked out and a friend of a friend of my dad's is a doctor who has allowed me to shadow. That's what you've got to do. In fact, I didn't apply last year because I didn't have any hours. You may have to do the same.

 

[BodyBuildingDOC]

In my experience, it has been much much harder to get a shadowing position at a large academic hospital as opposed to private practice. All the large hospitals I tried had rules where they only allowed medical students. I couldn't even do it at my own university's hospital even though I volunteered there.

My tip is to try for private practice. And DONT EMAIL. In my experience, most doctors don't respond. Call their office and ask to speak with them. If the secretary refuses, leave your number and have them call you back at their earliest convenience. GL

I'm near the Buffalo area and 1/8 of my "no" answers came from a hospital associated with the University at Buffalo, the only med school in my area/very large school as well. I was also told the same thing--"we only allow 3rd and 4th year med school students in their clinical years to shadow physicians." Another doctor I spoke to had no idea what physician shadowing was and was flabbergasted that its a necessity to get into med school. He said "when med school admissions begin to decline ad coms will see they're making it too difficult to get in."

Today I was told by the primary care docs I met with that "you will have trouble finding anyone in private practice to let you shadow..." due to the reasons crimsonkid85 stated in the first response with the smaller practices needing to keep patients happy/make money from referrals/too busy, etc. I may re-call UB/their hospital and ask for more advice from other premed advisers or keep asking for names to network and find something!

 

[Spitphire]

It definitely seems increasingly difficult to get shadowing experience. Luckily I found a semi-local hospital that has a shadowing program for students. I started off by calling physicians like you did and they told me the exact same thing, "We only allow medical students to job shadow." Which I found really weird because isn't that already a given? Aren't 3rd/4th year students SUPPOSE to follow doctors around? I thought it was part of the curriculum. It sounded like it was a special privilege or something. It's going to be hell getting any decent shadowing experiences.

 

[baconshrimps]

I'm near the Buffalo area and 1/8 of my "no" answers came from a hospital associated with the University at Buffalo, the only med school in my area/very large school as well. I was also told the same thing--"we only allow 3rd and 4th year med school students in their clinical years to shadow physicians." Another doctor I spoke to had no idea what physician shadowing was and was flabbergasted that its a necessity to get into med school. He said "when med school admissions begin to decline ad coms will see they're making it too difficult to get in."

Today I was told by the primary care docs I met with that "you will have trouble finding anyone in private practice to let you shadow..." due to the reasons crimsonkid85 stated in the first response with the smaller practices needing to keep patients happy/make money from referrals/too busy, etc. I may re-call UB/their hospital and ask for more advice from other premed advisers or keep asking for names to network and find something!

Okay, next question: who at SUNY Buffalo is telling you "no", specifically? Some administrative clerk? Some rando in the dept of volunteer services for the hospital? Actual attendings at the hospital? Are you just calling people up?

Check this out - alot of hospitals, particularly academic medical centers and university hospitals (like that at SUNY Buffalo) have physician/faculty profiles listed on the departmental websites - biosketches usually provide info on area of specialty, where/when they went to medical school, where they trained for residency, etc. Usually, in most cases, the physicians email address at the university will be listed on their biosketch. Check this link. I am certain if you send a short and sweet email to a physician, they'll be happy to help you out. This is how I got set up shadowing opportunities with 4 of the 5 physicians I shadowed at various hospitals.

"Dear Dr. So & So,

My name is BodyBuildingDoc and I am currently [a student at (school name)/a lab technician at [research institute]/preparing to apply to medical school/etc]. I am planning on being in [area of hospital] during [give time frame] and am currently seeking to arrange some physician-observations. I am writing to learn if you take on student-observers in your clinical service, and if so would it be possible to discuss in further detail what paperwork/process/steps I must take to do this? If you are not available for shadowing opportunities, could you perhaps let me know of any colleagues in your dept/unit/hospital who might be willing to take a student on their clinical service?

Sincerely,
BodyBuildingDoc"

 

[BodyBuildingDOC]

Okay, next question: who at SUNY Buffalo is telling you "no", specifically? Some administrative clerk? Some rando in the dept of volunteer services for the hospital? Actual attendings at the hospital? Are you just calling people up?

Check this out - alot of hospitals, particularly academic medical centers and university hospitals (like that at SUNY Buffalo) have physician/faculty profiles listed on the departmental websites - biosketches usually provide info on area of specialty, where/when they went to medical school, where they trained for residency, etc. Usually, in most cases, the physicians email address at the university will be listed on their biosketch. Check this link. I am certain if you send a short and sweet email to a physician, they'll be happy to help you out. This is how I got set up shadowing opportunities with 4 of the 5 physicians I shadowed at various hospitals.

"Dear Dr. So & So,

My name is BodyBuildingDoc and I am currently [a student at (school name)/a lab technician at [research institute]/preparing to apply to medical school/etc]. I am planning on being in [area of hospital] during [give time frame] and am currently seeking to arrange some physician-observations. I am writing to learn if you take on student-observers in your clinical service, and if so would it be possible to discuss in further detail what paperwork/process/steps I must take to do this? If you are not available for shadowing opportunities, could you perhaps let me know of any colleagues in your dept/unit/hospital who might be willing to take a student on their clinical service?

Sincerely,
BodyBuildingDoc"

WOW! Great find on that link, baconshrimps! Thank you so much--feels like I hit a jackpot, lol. There's 173 people to choose from there, goodness. I will start on that list tomorrow, narrow down, and begin sending emails.

Thanks to all who responded. Perhaps I was going about this wrong by asking random friends/family docs for shadowing opportunities. UB has such an expansive medical faculty and is a teaching facility so I will definitely try my luck again there.

 

[baconshrimps]

WOW! Great find on that link, baconshrimps! Thank you so much--feels like I hit a jackpot, lol. There's 173 people to choose from there, goodness. I will start on that list tomorrow, narrow down, and begin sending emails.

Thanks to all who responded. Perhaps I was going about this wrong by asking random friends/family docs for shadowing opportunities. UB has such an expansive medical faculty and is a teaching facility so I will definitely try my luck again there.

Keep in mind, that is just for the department of medicine. I am sure there are similar pages for other departments, like Urology or Ortho or Surgery, etc.

 

[Estelle]

I'm in Buffalo and I've shadowed 3 doctors now. UB doesn't really try to help, much, and they don't really want to deal with us, at least in my experience. I've shadowed at a small hospital in North Tonawanda called DeGraff hospital and they were super nice to me. I would try to directly contact a physician there and ask, or call the volunteer office. Also at Suburban they're pretty nice! Good luck 🙂

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I remember my friend and me made a list of 40 physicians in our area to potentially shadow. After calling all of them, we got 2 that were willing to let us shadow.

 

[Laureatebarrel]

Ask your premed friends who they are shadowing and whether they are willing to introduce you. Thats how I got my first shadow. Also, it helps if you can mention some outstanding facts you have to capture their attention. Dress professionally with your transcript, cv ready for them to see will make you appear serious and respected. Appear in person always if possible rather than phone calls or emails.

 

[chillaxbro]

Ask your premed friends who they are shadowing and whether they are willing to introduce you. Thats how I got my first shadow. Also, it helps if you can mention some outstanding facts you have to capture their attention. Dress professionally with your transcript, cv ready for them to see will make you appear serious and respected. Appear in person always if possible rather than phone calls or emails.

Also don't forget to bring your business card

 

[Laureatebarrel]

Also don't forget to bring your business card

Dont even start...

 

[nacholover53]

Hey man,

So I wanted to begin shadowing this semester as well and simply looked up doctors in the field of my interest that were located near my college. Then I literally just sat down and called a whole bunch of them saying "Hi, my name is "Nacholover" and I am a student at X University. I was wondering if your office allowed students to shadow doctors?"
I did get sent around to a few other extensions/departments, but if you just get assertive and be persistent, you'll be able to get something for sure. There was this one place where I wanted to shadow so I didn't call any other place at first. I literally left that lady at least 10 messages, and she wouldn't call me back so I just looked up other places and found someone to shadow. It's definitely been a great experience and I really like the field.

Good luck

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

I remember my friend and me made a list of 40 physicians in our area to potentially shadow. After calling all of them, we got 2 that were willing to let us shadow.

Same here. I called over 30 MDs and DOs. 1 let me shadow, and 1 told me to stop wasting his time LOL
Somehow, once you get 1 shadowing opportunity, the rest of them just come rolling in. 🙂

 

[maliro]

1. Volunteer in a hospital, some doctors are ok with you shadowing them when they get to know you better
2. Family members, neighbors, parents/relatives of friends--most people I know got shadowing opportunities this way and they are more likely to be open to someone they know. Do a couple days of full time shadowing. Seriously, grandparents have a lot of connections, at least mine socialize a lot and it never hurts to ask. So I tend to shadow people when I visit them. Its the random hours that tend to add up.

 

[Uafl112]

Idk if you have this option, but I just went to the clinic at the medical school and asked those physicians if I could shadow them. Some of them were cool and said I could even come to the general hosp. to watch surgeries

 

[BodyBuildingDOC]

And now I’m back at square one. I contacted SIXTY!!! physicians that I selected from the University at Buffalo Med School faculty website and only found 5 that said I would be allowed to shadow/observe. I used a very professional tone in my emails and included enough information for them to know what I’m asking for. I contacted 60 doctors directly at their faculty email addresses and received NO’s from almost all of them. I thought I had something going here with 5 doctors who responded positively, but this is getting REALLY ridiculous now.

Of the 5 that said they will let me shadow:

#1: I was asked to apply as a volunteer at the hospital & go through an orientation process which I did, but now no response from the doc for 10 days when we can set a date/time.

#2: Doc didn’t read my initial email properly and thought I was already a med student and he said only 3rd & 4th year med students are allowed to shadow.

#3: I was asked for my availability by the HR office in another major hospital and which department I would most prefer to observe in and I submitted and no response for 13 days now.

#4: Doc #4 asked me to apply for an ID badge with the volunteer office at the hospital and then said since I'm not a UB student, he cannot allow me to shadow him. That was 9 days ago now.

#5: Told me he has a daughter my age applying to med school next year so he can help me out with the shadowing part since he understands I need to observe somewhere. No response from him for 14 days now.

I’ve given all of my information to these docs/HR people/whoever runs the volunteer offices and they have my SSN, birthdate, a background check was done on me, I’ve signed numerous consent forms and had a physical done along with PPD!!! FOR ALL 5 OF THESE DOCTORS!!!

I have sent 1 subsequent email to each of these 5 doctors when I noticed it had been a while since we’ve spoken to set a date/time and still received no response. At the risk of looking bothersome, I don’t know if I should sent another after my most recent ones went unanswered! Do you guys actually find docs to shadow!?! I’m in Buffalo, NY and losing my mind. I apply in June. Very frustrated and don’t know what to do next :/ I guess I'll call hospitals themselves---someone mentioned DeGraff and Suburban... this is crazy.

 

[Flashfan]

Have you tried DO physicians? Because most DO schools require a physician letter, they seem to be more likely to let you shadow (for me so far). Otherwise, all the other opportunities I got from alums from my school. A DO letter will not hurt you at an MD school and it will get you shadowing experience.

 

[chillaxbro]

And now I’m back at square one. I contacted SIXTY!!! physicians that I selected from the University at Buffalo Med School faculty website and only found 5 that said I would be allowed to shadow/observe. I used a very professional tone in my emails and included enough information for them to know what I’m asking for. I contacted 60 doctors directly at their faculty email addresses and received NO’s from almost all of them. I thought I had something going here with 5 doctors who responded positively, but this is getting REALLY ridiculous now.

Of the 5 that said they will let me shadow:

#1: I was asked to apply as a volunteer at the hospital & go through an orientation process which I did, but now no response from the doc for 10 days when we can set a date/time.

#2: Doc didn’t read my initial email properly and thought I was already a med student and he said only 3rd & 4th year med students are allowed to shadow.

#3: I was asked for my availability by the HR office in another major hospital and which department I would most prefer to observe in and I submitted and no response for 13 days now.

#4: Doc #4 asked me to apply for an ID badge with the volunteer office at the hospital and then said since I'm not a UB student, he cannot allow me to shadow him. That was 9 days ago now.

#5: Told me he has a daughter my age applying to med school next year so he can help me out with the shadowing part since he understands I need to observe somewhere. No response from him for 14 days now.

I’ve given all of my information to these docs/HR people/whoever runs the volunteer offices and they have my SSN, birthdate, a background check was done on me, I’ve signed numerous consent forms and had a physical done along with PPD!!! FOR ALL 5 OF THESE DOCTORS!!!

I have sent 1 subsequent email to each of these 5 doctors when I noticed it had been a while since we’ve spoken to set a date/time and still received no response. At the risk of looking bothersome, I don’t know if I should sent another after my most recent ones went unanswered! Do you guys actually find docs to shadow!?! I’m in Buffalo, NY and losing my mind. I apply in June. Very frustrated and don’t know what to do next :/ I guess I'll call hospitals themselves---someone mentioned DeGraff and Suburban... this is crazy.

Sounds exactly like my experience (read reply #3 to this thread)

Take my advice bro. Skip the academic hospitals, go for private practice.

Also, some doctors at your hospital will have private clinics. If they say no at the hospital, ask about seeing them in their clinic

 

[nvnme]

I simply contacted my childhood pediatrician. He'd been my mothers physician as a child also, so I figured since my family had known him since my mother was in kindergarten, it wouldn't hurt to ask. He was enthralled that I was considering medicine and was happy to accommodate me. Thankfully I lucked out and was able to avoid the runaround.