Questions for Shadowing

[502623]

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Hello all and sorry if this has been asked before, but...

I'm going to shadow an anesthesiologist at my mom's hospital on Tuesday and I wanted to come up with some things to ask him. However, I'm not sure how important this actually is. I think what is more important is knowing what to take away from this experience that can be helpful in using towards my application to medical school a couple years down the line.

Could I get some tips on what to be thinking about while doing this? I've heard fellow pre-med students at my university talk about the kinds of important things and I've heard thinking about what it really means to be a physician as a big theme.

Any help I could get on this would be great, and I once again apologize if this topic comes through too frequently and you're tired of seeing it.

 

[mimelim]

The importance of shadowing is the observership. Nothing more, nothing less. You are getting a window into the world of a physician. This is going to be one of your few opportunities to actually see what daily life is like before sinking a tremendous amount of time and resources into the path to become one. To get to a practicing anesthesiologist you have to do 8 years of post-HS education, 4 years of $12.50/hr job with virtually no control of your schedule, undergo countless licensing and non-licensing exams. All in all you will spend 12 years of your life including the entirety of your 20s with the aim of becoming something that you likely have little exposure to.

You want to figure out that medicine is the right path for you earlier than later. You have to have exposure to make that decision with any shred of credibility.

 

[502623]

Well I'm wondering what I should take note of in this experience and actually document so I can have it for two years down the line when I'm applying to medical school. Or maybe I should just do shadowing frequently (like once a break, few times over the summers) in the time between now and when I apply so I can have fresh experiences and get as many experiences (or windows) into being a physician/anesthesiologist as possible.

I get what you're saying about the observership being the important thing in shadowing, so I can become as sure as humanly possible that this is what I want to do. This makes sense.

 

[HurricaneKatt]

Well I'm wondering what I should take note of in this experience and actually document so I can have it for two years down the line when I'm applying to medical school. Or maybe I should just do shadowing frequently (like once a break, few times over the summers) in the time between now and when I apply so I can have fresh experiences and get as many experiences (or windows) into being a physician/anesthesiologist as possible.

I get what you're saying about the observership being the important thing in shadowing, so I can become as sure as humanly possible that this is what I want to do. This makes sense.

Your status says Junior Member...are you in undergrad? I'm only asking because if you are shadowing in high school (good for you!) it won't help any on your application. BUT it will help you establish connections to the dr you are shadowing and possibly others, so that WILL help you for getting more shadowing later in undergrad.

If you ARE in undergrad, then you should do a LOT of shadowing. I was told (by a school) that they would prefer to see consistent shadowing over time with one dr (shows commitment) over shadowing with several different specialties. They biggest thing though appears to be the sheer quantity of shadowing. After filling out my primaries twice, I REALLY regret not logging my shadowing hours. And DATES. I was told it wasn't needed. I don't remember who said that, but I wish I could go back and shake them. I recommend having say a shadowing notebook or something where you can log the dates and hours of your shadowing experiences. Feel free to take notes about your experience too. That will give you stuff to refer to when you are later writing essays about it for your applications! I would also recommend (advice from many sources here, including med students, and admissions/school staff) trying to get shadowing experience in primary care. Unfortunately this seems to be the most difficult shadowing to get in on as PCP's are so busy. Try though!

 

[HurricaneKatt]

Whoops, just re-read your post about 2 years down the road. lol Sorry. Ignore the high school part then! 😉 And try to shadow as MUCH as you can. I made that mistake the first time. I worked to pay for school all through undergrad, all on top of my other EC's (premed club officer, volunteering, etc). With my horrible hours I was only able to do limited shadowing. So many people told me that they'd see how much I was doing what with working during school and all, and that they'd understand... That's a lie. They don't care that I worked while going to school full time, year round (I took classes every summer, in addition to my full 14+ credit semesters every year).. They didn't care in the least. They wanted to see more clinical experience - period. The more shadowing you can do, the better!!!!

 

[dsoz]

I shadowed one physician for over 150 hours, and three others for a total of about 75 hours. I got the long term shadowing experience,but I also was able to see some of the specialties that are out there.

I kept track of my shadowing with notepad on my iPod. At the end of each day of shadowing, I would spend 5-10 minutes writing about what I saw. Not just what the doctor did, but also some of the things that I learned and did not want to forget. I also summarized how I felt about the experience. Every few experiences I would email the notepad pro myself and store it in a folder in my email account. That way if my iPod got lost,stolen, or broken, I still had my notes from shadowing.

I think that those notes,added up over time, were valuable to me in explaining what I thought made a good doctor. It helped me to answer some questions that were on at least two of my interviews.

For most people, their iPod (or phone) is something that they have with them no matter where they go. A notebook can be forgotten, but don't leave the iPod! It also made it handy when I wanted to add something that I remembered a few days later.

Good luck with the journey!
dsoz

 

[circulus vitios]

Just watch and don't try too hard. I'm currently shadowing FM residents and attendings at my local hospital. It's more or less exactly what I expected: some cool cases every now and then, a lot of mundane cases, and a lot of administrative work.

 

[eggs13]

Your status says Junior Member...are you in undergrad? I'm only asking because if you are shadowing in high school (good for you!) it won't help any on your application. BUT it will help you establish connections to the dr you are shadowing and possibly others, so that WILL help you for getting more shadowing later in undergrad.

If you ARE in undergrad, then you should do a LOT of shadowing. I was told (by a school) that they would prefer to see consistent shadowing over time with one dr (shows commitment) over shadowing with several different specialties. They biggest thing though appears to be the sheer quantity of shadowing. After filling out my primaries twice, I REALLY regret not logging my shadowing hours. And DATES. I was told it wasn't needed. I don't remember who said that, but I wish I could go back and shake them. I recommend having say a shadowing notebook or something where you can log the dates and hours of your shadowing experiences. Feel free to take notes about your experience too. That will give you stuff to refer to when you are later writing essays about it for your applications! I would also recommend (advice from many sources here, including med students, and admissions/school staff) trying to get shadowing experience in primary care. Unfortunately this seems to be the most difficult shadowing to get in on as PCP's are so busy. Try though!

While one school may have said this, I would say the feedback I have received would be the opposite. I think it is important to see a variety of medicine, from primary care to some of the more specialized area's. The lifestyle and daily routine of the primary care physician I shadowed was much different than the orthopedic surgeon I shadowed, which was much different than the glaucoma specialist opthalmologist I shadowed. I know you get a lot of exposure to the different fields of medicine in your 3rd and 4th years of medical school, but you better know for sure if medicine is for you before then, and that is why I suggest shadowing in as many different fields as you can! good luck!

 

[pre med 2014]

Your status says Junior Member...are you in undergrad? I'm only asking because if you are shadowing in high school (good for you!) it won't help any on your application. BUT it will help you establish connections to the dr you are shadowing and possibly others, so that WILL help you for getting more shadowing later in undergrad.

If you ARE in undergrad, then you should do a LOT of shadowing. I was told (by a school) that they would prefer to see consistent shadowing over time with one dr (shows commitment) over shadowing with several different specialties. They biggest thing though appears to be the sheer quantity of shadowing. After filling out my primaries twice, I REALLY regret not logging my shadowing hours. And DATES. I was told it wasn't needed. I don't remember who said that, but I wish I could go back and shake them. I recommend having say a shadowing notebook or something where you can log the dates and hours of your shadowing experiences. Feel free to take notes about your experience too. That will give you stuff to refer to when you are later writing essays about it for your applications! I would also recommend (advice from many sources here, including med students, and admissions/school staff) trying to get shadowing experience in primary care. Unfortunately this seems to be the most difficult shadowing to get in on as PCP's are so busy. Try though!

oh man, I recorded all my shadowing as occurring on 'Day 1", "Day 2"... lol, that's gonna suck for me come application time.

 

[502623]

Thank you all very much for the advice! I think I will try to combine both ideas of doing lots of hours with one specialty/physician as well as doing different areas. It can't hurt to have both. It also sounds smart to simply log all of these and attach notes/thoughts to each experience. I just hope I'm not too late in starting as I'm a freshman undergrad right now.

Also, a little off-topic question. Is being a part of pre-med clubs in undergrad really important for application or more of just volunteering in places and shadowing?

 

[Aerus]

Thank you all very much for the advice! I think I will try to combine both ideas of doing lots of hours with one specialty/physician as well as doing different areas. It can't hurt to have both. It also sounds smart to simply log all of these and attach notes/thoughts to each experience. I just hope I'm not too late in starting as I'm a freshman undergrad right now.

Also, a little off-topic question. Is being a part of pre-med clubs in undergrad really important for application or more of just volunteering in places and shadowing?

The main point of shadowing is to ask yourself "Can I picture myself doing this everyday?" It's basically a day in the life of a physician. That's why it's important to shadow multiple specialties: to see what it's like to interact with patients and the different ways you interact with patients.

It isn't completely necessary to log each experience, but if you feel it will help you explain the experiences better, go ahead.

In my opinion, there isn't much you can gain from premed clubs that you can't gain by yourself. There are a few clubs, like AMSA, which has various doctors and adcom members give presentations, which I guess could be enlightening. The volunteer opportunities they give may or may not be useful. If they can help you find long term clinical experience, go ahead and join one!

 

[502623]

This may be a dumb question, but when everyone refers to clinical experience as what med schools are wanting to see, what do they mean exactly? What kinds of things can I be doing to get this clinical experience?

 

[circulus vitios]

This may be a dumb question, but when everyone refers to clinical experience as what med schools are wanting to see, what do they mean exactly? What kinds of things can I be doing to get this clinical experience?

The typical route is hospital volunteering aka handing out blankets and stocking shelves for 100 hours.

 

[502623]

Ah, I see. Currently I allocate wheelchairs to various areas within a local hospital, making sure each department has enough. I suppose this would be along those lines. However, I am trying to get a different position next semester where I will have more patient interaction for obvious reasons.

 

[Aerus]

Ah, I see. Currently I allocate wheelchairs to various areas within a local hospital, making sure each department has enough. I suppose this would be along those lines. However, I am trying to get a different position next semester where I will have more patient interaction for obvious reasons.

Anything that involves direct contact with patients can be considered clinical experience. It can be through volunteering, a job, or research. Yours sounds fine.

 

[HurricaneKatt]

Thank you all very much for the advice! I think I will try to combine both ideas of doing lots of hours with one specialty/physician as well as doing different areas. It can't hurt to have both. It also sounds smart to simply log all of these and attach notes/thoughts to each experience. I just hope I'm not too late in starting as I'm a freshman undergrad right now.

Also, a little off-topic question. Is being a part of pre-med clubs in undergrad really important for application or more of just volunteering in places and shadowing?

Starting Freshman year is definitely not too late! Anything before college doesn't even count. 😉

IMO premed clubs are a very good idea for many reasons. It was primarily through premed club and SDN that I learned about the application process and everything I needed to do and when, when to take the MCAT, etc. It also helped me develop friendships with people who had common interests, and connections to doctors, volunteer coordinators, etc PLUS the helpful guidance of upperclassmen on what classes to take, what professors were better, yadda yadda.
ALSO, Prmed club shows that you are involved in your community, is an EC (showing you interact with people too and aren't a total introvert who only studies lol), it is an IN for several club-run volunteer events/projects, and a great way to get leadership experience. Join the club and run for an officer position.

The typical route is hospital volunteering aka handing out blankets and stocking shelves for 100 hours.

The 2 schools I interviewed at last cycle didn't seem to think volunteering counts as clinical experience. I had >100hrs of hospital volunteering with direct patient contact, plus my (limited) shadowing experiences. Both schools said that clinical experience was my biggest weak spot in my app (I knew this going in) and that I needed to do more shadowing.
To the OP, if you are able to get a job in a health clinic, work or volunteer as an EMT, or something along those lines in addition to shadowing that would help your app too.

 

[502623]

I already became a first aider this semester after taking this basic class. I plan on being an EMT by this time next year, so it's good to know that that is a helpful thing.

Yeah, the biggest problem I have right now is knowing what is meant by "clinical experience" and what kind of volunteering if any is good volunteering. I guess lots of shadowing is important, too.

 

[HurricaneKatt]

From all of the questions you are asking I would suggest a few things. 1) Join your school's premed club. 2) have a sit down with your school's premed adviser 3) do more thread reading around SDN! 😉

Volunteering. Do lots of it, and do many different things if you can. It was also always stressed to me to have (at least one thing) something consistent. So say get a volunteering position at the hospital, and stick with it long-term. Long-term being at Least a year. They like to see that you can be commuted to something. Volunteering can be done in medical AND non-medical areas. I suggest doing both. Medical volunteering is obviously good because you want to go to med school. It will familiarize you with other aspects of the medical system (the background work, stacking towels, filing papers, etc - all of the mundane things that still need to get done to keep medical offices running smoothly!), it will potentially help you build contacts in the medical field (shadowing and letters of rec!), and it shows that you are interested in being in/around medical settings. Volunteering in non-medical settings shows that you are actively involved in your community and care about helping people - and in more ways than just being a doctor - an are committed to community service.

Clinical experience is exactly what it says. Experience/exposure to clinical settings, patient interaction if/when possible (obviously shadowing you may not be able to truly "interact" with the patients, but you will get exposure and knowledge of doctor-patient interactions. work like EMT work, and volunteering helps with the patient interaction portion of this, exposure to and knowledge of the healthcare system. How medical offices run, how doctors interact with patients and what their daily life is like, including the mundane paperwork, etc etc etc.... The more you know about the healthcare system, insurance, and how it all works, where the problems are, yadda yadda...the better! EMT work will definitely help, but still try to do a lot of shadowing. 🙂

I'm sure others will pop in with more input too.

 

[502623]

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Praefectus]

You should get a notebook and jot down your feelings and experiences when you finish your day. When you're ready to apply, skim through and reflect. Your outlook might have changed or you might have a greater resolve towards medicine.

 

[docbobi]

Your status says Junior Member...are you in undergrad? I'm only asking because if you are shadowing in high school (good for you!) it won't help any on your application. BUT it will help you establish connections to the dr you are shadowing and possibly others, so that WILL help you for getting more shadowing later in undergrad.

If you ARE in undergrad, then you should do a LOT of shadowing. I was told (by a school) that they would prefer to see consistent shadowing over time with one dr (shows commitment) over shadowing with several different specialties. They biggest thing though appears to be the sheer quantity of shadowing. After filling out my primaries twice, I REALLY regret not logging my shadowing hours. And DATES. I was told it wasn't needed. I don't remember who said that, but I wish I could go back and shake them. I recommend having say a shadowing notebook or something where you can log the dates and hours of your shadowing experiences. Feel free to take notes about your experience too. That will give you stuff to refer to when you are later writing essays about it for your applications! I would also recommend (advice from many sources here, including med students, and admissions/school staff) trying to get shadowing experience in primary care. Unfortunately this seems to be the most difficult shadowing to get in on as PCP's are so busy. Try though!

I am trying to do some shadowing and volunteering... I am a 33 yo male , with no experience in medical field or dental office. In fact i just changed my major to biology about 3 years ago and passed 90+ credits. NO one accepts me to do shadowing and i don't know where i do volunteering, what can i do?