questions about shadowing

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dw2158

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hey all, i'm new here. applying for 2010 so trying to get an early start on things. i think i have a pretty well-rounded profile (feel free to check out my MDApps) but i'd like a bit more clinical stuff for good measure. also because i'm taking time off this year and next, and i want to stay "in it" and excited about this whole process. :)

anyway, to get to my real question... i'm working full time this year. what are the odds of finding a doctor who will let me follow him/her in the evening or on weekends? how should i go about doing this? i sort of stumbled upon my two previous shadowing experiences through personal connections (in Boston, in case that matters), so i don't have such a good idea of how to go about doing this from scratch in NYC. thanks to anyone who has suggestions!

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Yea, I'm not sure how feasible that is. Maybe contact the local ERs, or find a free clinic that would let you do some work.
 
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I cold-called several hospitals in my city. I just got done shadowing one of the DO's at the hospital that called back first. At the end of the day, he said if I wanted, I could shadow him "on call."

Maybe you could set up a similar shadow?

thats really cool he offered you that
That will probably be a great experience
 
As long as you are OK with just being a fly on the wall and not doing anything, the only barrier between you and shadowing is finding a willing physician. I would volunteer in hospitals on the weekends and get info from nurses about which docs allowed students to shadow them. Get to know that doc if you can or straight up cold call his office and leave a message. Most shadowing opportuinties are stumbled upon, however, these can also be some of the most rewarding.
 
hi guys - sorry first post..

I am looking to shadow (home from break)

I cold called the nearest hospital (New York medical college) and before doing so I went to their website and wrote down the numbers for the following departments (all of which I have interest in):

- plastic surgery
- oncology
- sports medicine/orthopedic surgery
- cardiology

I called each and said the following "Hello my name is antihero and I'm a premed student at Wake Forest University, I'm interested to know if the ___ department has a physician shadowing program."

More often than not, everyone was superfriendly, took down my name and number and said they would call me back. More than one person told me it was normal to have students shadowing doctors.

I'm also tapping into my parents friend's network and seeing if they can get their doctor friends to let me shadow them.

It shouldn't be too hard.
 
This is all really helpful; thanks, everyone. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to just cold-call hospitals. :rolleyes:
 
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