Shadowed by Pre-Meds?

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Katatonic

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Have any of you been shadowed by someone interested in going into medicine? I would really like to see what a normal day is like for a pathologist since it is the one specialty I'm interested in. However, I've never really heard of anyone shadowing a pathologist.

What sort of things would the shadowee (?) do as your go about your day? Do you consider it difficult or a pain to have someone shadow you? Thanks for any info.

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when i was premed i shadowed a forensic pathologist. that's one of the more "hands on" areas of pathology, and if you've taken some anatomy in high school or college at least you'll have an idea of what you're looking at. shadowing a surgical pathologist, while doable (you'd just share a multi-headed microscope with them) won't do you much good unless you've studied some basic histology at the very least. something else you could do would be to shadow whoever is grossing in specimen (that could be a PA or a pathologist depending on the size and nature of the practice).

one more caveat that i know the others on here will agree with. a "normal" day for a pathologist will be extremely variable depending on the type of pathologist, type of practice, and other factors. that said, if you're interested in the field then you certainly should try and get some shadowing experience. it can only help you.
 
I shadowed a pathologist in a hospital setting before medical school...

I wasn't even doing it because I wanted to be a pathologist... (I didn't decide on pathology till my third year in medical school)


I found it to be very informative, and like mlw03 said it can be very variable...

I did it for a couple of weeks, for part of each day (so the pathologist could get work down with having to show me everything).
 
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Thanks for the responses. I attempted to contact our medical examiners office to see if there was any chance of shadowing a forensic pathologist or a PA, but they told me they don't ever allow it due to the sensitivity of the cases.
 
Thanks for the responses. I attempted to contact our medical examiners office to see if there was any chance of shadowing a forensic pathologist or a PA, but they told me they don't ever allow it due to the sensitivity of the cases.

try to get a hold of a pathologist (email, phone, school) directly instead of office staff (who will usually give you the runaround)
 
Alright thanks. I just got a job in a lab that's in the same building as where the pathologists work, so maybe I can ask around. It's difficult though without feeling like I'm intruding or asking too much, since I don't know anyone. Thanks again though!
 
Alright thanks. I just got a job in a lab that's in the same building as where the pathologists work, so maybe I can ask around. It's difficult though without feeling like I'm intruding or asking too much, since I don't know anyone. Thanks again though!

If you known any other physicians, ask them, they may be able to make the introduction... make it less awkward..
 
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