Shadow a DO

[dreams4life]

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I live in NJ and for the last few months I have been calling several clinics and hospitals to find a doctor to shadow. None of them showed any interest. I called and emailed about 50 doctors from AOA and NJAOPS. Can someone recommend a doctor in NJ, who would be willing to accept students to shadow? Thanks for all the help in advance.

 

[LUCPM]

I live in NJ and for the last few months I have been calling several clinics and hospitals to find a doctor to shadow. None of them showed any interest. I called and emailed about 50 doctors from AOA and NJAOPS. Can someone recommend a doctor in NJ, who would be willing to accept students to shadow? Thanks for all the help in advance.

If you emailed 50 doctors, you will at least hear from one of them. They might not reply right away but you will hear from them sooner or later.

I used I-Learn mentor program through AOA and emailed almost everyone in the vicinity of my town, and some of them replied 2-3 weeks later.

 

[scummie]

I was in a similar situation as you and needed a DO letter. I went throughthe osteopathic website to find a mentor, blah blah, total waste of time.

This sounds really dumb, but I just google searched for DOs in my area and kept on calling till I found one that would let me shadow them. See if that works for you.

 

[MEDCandy]

I was in a similar situation as you and needed a DO letter. I went throughthe osteopathic website to find a mentor, blah blah, total waste of time.

This sounds really dumb, but I just google searched for DOs in my area and kept on calling till I found one that would let me shadow them. See if that works for you.

That's exactly what I did lol

 

[doingit9]

I was in a similar situation as you and needed a DO letter. I went throughthe osteopathic website to find a mentor, blah blah, total waste of time.

This sounds really dumb, but I just google searched for DOs in my area and kept on calling till I found one that would let me shadow them. See if that works for you.

👍

Also try hospital websites and check out their physician listings. Keep calling and you will get someone. You might also try dropping off your resume at some of the local offices.

 

[PJ meowerton]

I was in a similar situation as you and needed a DO letter. I went throughthe osteopathic website to find a mentor, blah blah, total waste of time.

This sounds really dumb, but I just google searched for DOs in my area and kept on calling till I found one that would let me shadow them. See if that works for you.

I did the same thing and it actually worked!

 

[PJ meowerton]

Try looking for D.O.s that work at teaching hospitals (universities, VA hospitals etc), they might be more used to there being students around and therefore more willing to let you shadow.

Or figure out where UMDNJ students rotate and contact those locations

 

[TriagePreMed]

Shadowing is so immensely annoying to find. I just called like 30 physicians. About 5 picked up or called back. 2 of them said "yes." 1 physician flaked at the end, and the other one I'll go meet next Saturday. I have an MD Ophthalmologist willing to help, but it sounds like he's also flaking.

 

[Mbeas]

Shadowing is so immensely annoying to find. I just called like 30 physicians. About 5 picked up or called back. 2 of them said "yes." 1 physician flaked at the end, and the other one I'll go meet next Saturday. I have an MD Ophthalmologist willing to help, but it sounds like he's also flaking.

I have already vowed that when I become an attending, I will help out pre-meds as much as possible because I know what I've had to go through just to find a doctor to shadow. It's a bunch of BS.

OP: I recommend a face-to-face meeting. I e-mailed and called a bunch of docs that never responded and/or flaked. The first doc I approached in person wrote me an excellent LOR.

 

[GlimmerGlass]

I had trouble with this at first too and emailed and cold called practically every D.O. off the AOA list in my area. I finally found success with the iLearn mentor program. I also successfully stalked down a doctor at a Medical University hospital in my area by calling the hospital and eventually getting her email and she responded fairly quickly to my email. One thing to note is that I had to expand what I considered "in my area" because I live in a major city and many DOs are not located in major cities, such as the one's I am shadowing now.

 

[dreams4life]

Hi all: Thanks for understanding my situation. I thought I was the only one with problems finding a doctor to shadow. A doctor who was on vacation, emailed me and said that she is willing. Her office is 1hr and 14 min away from my home. I am glad that I got a chance, finally.

 

[PJ meowerton]

Hi all: Thanks for understanding my situation. I thought I was the only one with problems finding a doctor to shadow. A doctor who was on vacation, emailed me and said that she is willing. Her office is 1hr and 14 min away from my home. I am glad that I got a chance, finally.

👍 yay!

 

[iceman132]

What did you guys type in Google? I am having trouble finding anything but addresses.

 

[n3xa]

Shadowing is so immensely annoying to find. I just called like 30 physicians. About 5 picked up or called back. 2 of them said "yes." 1 physician flaked at the end, and the other one I'll go meet next Saturday. I have an MD Ophthalmologist willing to help, but it sounds like he's also flaking.

Seriously. I had a conversation earlier today with a physician and he looked a bit confused about why a pre-med would want to come in to shadow. He was nice enough to agree to it, but I'm wondering when this whole shadowing thing really became a desired trait in an applicant.

 

[scummie]

What did you guys type in Google? I am having trouble finding anything but addresses.

Type in something like "DO", "osteopathic physician", etc. Try Google maps too. "osteopathic physician near 12345". Lots of practices and doctors nowawadays have their own website.

Here's another long shot, but a lot of times, your insurance provider has a database of doctors. Go in there and find one that's a DO.

 

[iceman132]

Type in something like "DO", "osteopathic physician", etc. Try Google maps too. "osteopathic physician near 12345". Lots of practices and doctors nowawadays have their own website.

Here's another long shot, but a lot of times, your insurance provider has a database of doctors. Go in there and find one that's a DO.

Sounds good. Thanks for the info/

 

[ksmajmudar]

Glad to hear you found a DO to shadow. I live in NJ as well (Don't hate - 'Jersey Shore' is full of lies and slander!) and there's tons of DOs to shadow. Granted, I also have to drive about an hour each way to shadow DOs, but there you are.

 

[surgeryDO]

I was also curious on how to go about finding a DO to shadow. Just this past week I went through a teaching hospital with mainly DO residency programs and I emailed the residency progam coordinator. I let her know I was aware of the ties between this hospital and the medical school I am hoping to attend. I also said I was looking for a DO to shadow on rounds and if I could, sit in and view a surgery or if I couldn't shadow there if she knew of a direction to point me in (of course I said all of this in a much more professional manner). She got back to me the next day asking what my schedule looked like to get me in there to view a surgery AND go on rounds.

 

[jdnontrad]

Type in something like "DO", "osteopathic physician", etc. Try Google maps too. "osteopathic physician near 12345". Lots of practices and doctors nowawadays have their own website.

Here's another long shot, but a lot of times, your insurance provider has a database of doctors. Go in there and find one that's a DO.

Strangely enough, my MD reply rate is much marginally higher than DO's.🙄

 

[jdnontrad]

Just curious, do you guys write thank you cards after shadowing? Would homemade cookies be appropriate?

 

[Flemon]

Thank you cards are always a good idea and no human being could ever turn down homemade cookies much less not be ok with getting some.

 

[ManBroDude]

I was in a similar situation as you and needed a DO letter. I went throughthe osteopathic website to find a mentor, blah blah, total waste of time.

This sounds really dumb, but I just google searched for DOs in my area and kept on calling till I found one that would let me shadow them. See if that works for you.

I called and called and called after some creative googling, and heard back from a few. I'm at a DO's office right now waiting for him to finish a vasectomy repair, and my LoR packet is right next to me 😉

And yes, send them a thank you letter, always.

 

[bridgestone]

finally found a DO to shadow after 4 months of calling people and sending them my resume. had to sit in his waiting room for nearly 2 hours as he was so busy, but i got the gig!

 

[dreams4life]

Hi all,
So I figured out the way to get more response from doctor's. When sending emails on I-mentor, try to address them by their last name. This will definitively get their attention and they will respond to you. After doing so, I have received several responses. Hope this helps

 

[Morsetlis]

I shadowed a DO and didn't know he was a DO until he invited me to a CME seminar and I saw that everybody there was a DO.