Obstacles to shadowing a surgeon...

[hoot504]

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[FatMan]

I wouldn't worry about any of that. Any doctor you shadow knows that you won't know how to do anything, and they'll expect to be teaching you things throughout the day. You'll most likely be an extra burden, but thats expected.

The first time I saw a surgery I didn't even scrub in. They just let me watch. The second and third times they taught me how to scrub in and I got to touch things.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

They will most likely give you scrubs. Wear comfortable shoes.

 

[bunnity]

Yeah I think it would be better to not get scrubs because they will want you to wear sterile scrubs from the scrubs machine if anything.

 

[Hurricane95]

Yeah I think it would be better to not get scrubs because they will want you to wear sterile scrubs from the scrubs machine if anything.

Scrubs from the machine are not sterile. No such thing as sterile scrubs. The only reason you may want to wait on wearing scrubs is that some hospitals are picky about what color you wear and if you wear something different you will have to change into appropriate scrubs anyway to match the dept.

Consider yourself lucky if you even get to scrub in. The majority of time spent shadowing a surgeon will either be in the surgeon's clinic (seeing patient pre- and post op) or standing in the OR watching from a distance, NOT scrubbed in. Most places consider it a huge liability to have someone who is not even in medical school up on the patient touching things.

For this reason don't worry - no one expects a pre-med to have "surgical experience." Just appreciate the opportunity to tag along, show interest and have fun learning. Don't touch anything you are not allowed to (steer clear of everything green/blue in the OR) and pay attention. If you are seeing patients in clinic wear professional attire (including tie for men) please, or you run a fair risk of getting yelled at and sent home. Have fun and enjoy the experience. 👍

 

[LilHouse]

🙂