I finally found a cardiologist that will let me shadow him. Thing is, the only time is the week of xmas. So, I was just wondering, how many hours should I shadow him for? Seeing how the time will be limited... I read 30 hours. Is that the only amount that is meaningful?
you can shadow any doctor, but don't overstay your invitation with the cardiologist. get what you can from him within what he is willing to let you shadow, and then find someone else.
You can learn a lot even in just one 8 or 10 hour day (when the work day stretches to 14 hours you've learned a whole lot about a career in medicine, eh?) I just interviewed someone who shadowed a surgical specialist yesterday and the applicant saw some surgical procedures and then got to see the office visit side of the practice, too. From what I heard, even one day can be meaningful. The thing that you should try to do is to string together a number of days with different subspecialists. If you come in contact with a radiologist, endocrinologist, vascular surgeon, neurologist (just thinking of some of the other areas of medicine that might interact with a cardiologist) ask the doc you are shadowing to introduce you and you may get another invitation to shadow.
Lizzy M's advice is just what I did today. Started the day with my main MD, anesthesiologist/pain doc. After a few hours, went with Physiatry (Pain), then after getting an intro to the Dept. Chair, went with Neurosurgeon. It was amazing. It was an amazing day. And I was even invited into the OR with same Neurosurgeon tomorrow at 7am. Really cool. Just enjoy the experience. I'm getting real good reading spine films. What was equally fun is that the Anesthesia MD kept introducing me as a "Visiting Professor." Haha. I'm 35. And the Physiatrist went straight for "Doctor X." I love the ring to it. D712
Wait, so I shouldn't stick around with a doctor? I'm shadowing a pediatric surgeon I was thinking of shadowing him until the end of next spring semester. And I was going to ask him for a letter of recommendation for med school. Is this okay? I shadow him about 3-4 hours once a week. He doesn't seem to mind me tagging along...
Some schools do like a letter from a physician or some other character reference; others don't care. If you plan to apply to schools that want those doc letters (and not just faculty/employer letters) then having a long term relationship as a shadow is a good strategy. For someone who has only a week or two over the holidays to do some shadowing, making the most of it by hop-scotching across several specialties is a good idea.
So just to clarify: It's totally okay if all shadowing hours are with a single physician in one specialty? I will have maybe 50 or so hours with a pediatrician and want to make sure I don't have to go seek out others. Thanks!
I think it's certainly not going to hurt. Some schools may like to see a little more diversity, but I don't really know. I say it's good that you at least have accumulated some meaningful time with a physician. For your own sake, I might recommend trying to do some different shadowing, I think it could give you more meaningful insight.
The purpose is to give you a feel for the career you seeking. Do you have a realistic view of what it means to work as a physician? If you haven't spent any time in the hospital as a shadow, volunteer, or employee, then you might want to get some time there in one of those roles.
I just had my first shadowing experience today and I absolutely loved it!! (Not sure if that really has to do with anything, but I wanted to share my enthusiasm with someone. My roommates don't care.) He's going to let my shadow him in the OR soon, too. I'm thrilled.
