Preparing to shadow a doctor...

[RUc10]

I'm shadowing an Ortho Monday in his office and then Thursday in the OR. He said to bring a copy of my resume and also a letter stating why I'm coming to the OR. He said the OR letter isn't his policy it's something new put in place by the hospital. What should I say in it? I don't want to say anything dumb and then I'm not allowed to go into the OR.

Also, probably been asked before but for the day in the office, tie or no tie?

The guy I'm shadowing is also a foot and ankle specialist so I'm assuming that his patients all have some type of foot or lower leg injury. Would it be wise to go over osteology a bit especially in that area? I remember the first time I shadowed an ortho in high school he asked me if I knew what something was on an xray. Turns out it was the epiphyseal plate and after taking anatomy and seeing that it was a pretty basic landmark I felt like a **** for not knowing that.

Any other suggestions from your experiences?

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[mmmcdowe]

I'm shadowing an Ortho Monday in his office and then Thursday in the OR. He said to bring a copy of my resume and also a letter stating why I'm coming to the OR. He said the OR letter isn't his policy it's something new put in place by the hospital. What should I say in it? I don't want to say anything dumb and then I'm not allowed to go into the OR.

Also, probably been asked before but for the day in the office, tie or no tie?

The guy I'm shadowing is also a foot and ankle specialist so I'm assuming that his patients all have some type of foot or lower leg injury. Would it be wise to go over osteology a bit especially in that area? I remember the first time I shadowed an ortho in high school he asked me if I knew what something was on an xray. Turns out it was the epiphyseal plate and after taking anatomy and seeing that it was a pretty basic landmark I felt like a **** for not knowing that.

Any other suggestions from your experiences?

Tie - yes.

Letter should state your interest, etc. I really don't think that they are going to decline you based on what you write, unless you say that House was a big influence on your decision to be a doctor. I think studying up for a shadow isn't really going to help you.

 

[Pedsbro]

I'm shadowing an Ortho Monday in his office and then Thursday in the OR. He said to bring a copy of my resume and also a letter stating why I'm coming to the OR. He said the OR letter isn't his policy it's something new put in place by the hospital. What should I say in it? I don't want to say anything dumb and then I'm not allowed to go into the OR.

Also, probably been asked before but for the day in the office, tie or no tie?

The guy I'm shadowing is also a foot and ankle specialist so I'm assuming that his patients all have some type of foot or lower leg injury. Would it be wise to go over osteology a bit especially in that area? I remember the first time I shadowed an ortho in high school he asked me if I knew what something was on an xray. Turns out it was the epiphyseal plate and after taking anatomy and seeing that it was a pretty basic landmark I felt like a **** for not knowing that.

Any other suggestions from your experiences?

Studying anything ahead of time is pointless. You can't predict what you'll see. What might be more relevant is to look up anything you see on Monday and then have a follow up discussion on Thursday with him about Monday's patients. They are not expecting you to know anything coming in.

Be very gracious to him (obviously), but also to his staff the whole time you're there. Being nice to staff of the doctor you're shadowing may open up other opportunities.

That letter seems dumb...but I agree with the previous poster...just don't say anything that would make them roll their eyes and deny you OR access...just use common sense.

 

[RUc10]

Tie - yes.

Letter should state your interest, etc. I really don't think that they are going to decline you based on what you write, unless you say that House was a big influence on your decision to be a doctor. I think studying up for a shadow isn't really going to help you.

Thanks. lol cool. I just didn't know if I should leave out anything stating an actual interest in seeing a surgery or if I should just leave it as strictly coming from an academic point of view and hoping to get insight before actually attending medical school.

Studying anything ahead of time is pointless. You can't predict what you'll see. What might be more relevant is to look up anything you see on Monday and then have a follow up discussion on Thursday with him about Monday's patients. They are not expecting you to know anything coming in.

Be very gracious to him (obviously), but also to his staff the whole time you're there. Being nice to staff of the doctor you're shadowing may open up other opportunities.

That letter seems dumb...but I agree with the previous poster...just don't say anything that would make them roll their eyes and deny you OR access...just use common sense.

Oh ok.

Yea he even said the letter was stupid himself but it's just something you have to do now along with the consents. He said to keep it brief so I guess that helps.

 

[Nomdeplume]

Be very gracious to him (obviously), but also to his staff the whole time you're there. Being nice to staff of the doctor you're shadowing may open up other opportunities.

This is very solid advice . The second time I shadowed at a certain private practice physician office, which I like a lot and now shadow regularly when I can, I ended up helping the nurses and receptionist with arbitrary office-work tasks for about a half hour or so. It wasn't especially educational, but I wasn't missing anything at the time, so I gladly obliged. Now, whenever I call the office or interact with anybody there (its a small office), everybody is extremely nice, and my interactions with them are always pleasant.

Anyway, I don't think it's necessary to study up beforehand, but I don't think it could hurt, either. If it were me, I might just take a cursory glance at some of the anatomy of the foot & ankle, if it's fuzzy. It would be mostly for my own benefit though; to keep myself from getting confused when he talks to me about patients, not necessarily to seem more knowledgeable.

I can't advise on the tie or the letter, unfortunately. Good call also shadowing in the office, though. It's a part of surgical specialties that is easy to overlook when overshadowed by the supreme coolness-factor of the OR.

 

[RUc10]

Thanks. I actually don't mind the office at all. It's because of my first shadowing experience with an Ortho that I wouldn't mind not getting into surgery because I still found all the patients interesting enough to the point where I could be happy with my job just seeing patients and finding a way to make them better. I still remember every single patient the first time I shadowed an ortho and that was 4 years ago.

 

[ESzczesniak]

Well, med school is of course different, but if you want to set the example of where you going, then absolutely study everything you can.

If you want to do well on rotations, the best way is to study everything related to patients you see so you're prepared for questions. It's hard to do for clinics where you're not sure what you're going to see, but absolutely find out what the OR cases are and study up for anatomy on those (don't just stick with bones for ortho, makes sure you know blood vessles, nerves and muscles too).

Of course, this all depends on how gunner you want to be. As a med student, this is just how you pass. Before med school, it's entirely not necessary.