Shadowing at Kaiser?

[winterwind_23]

Does anyone have experience shadowing as a premed at a Kaiser hospital or clinic?

I've emailed a bunch of doctors from Kaiser and one of them put me in touch with an assistant that handles these things. The assistant is asking if I am part of a Kaiser-associated university or institution. I'm currently doing an informal postbac right now, so I don't have any connection to Kaiser. Does Kaiser accept premeds for shadowing?

Does anyone know of some educational institutions associated with Kaiser? Maybe I can just list an institution that is associated with Kaiser and hope they don't check?

If not, what are the best ways to get a shadowing position? I'm trying to find a family medicine doctor to shadow. I hear the best way is to email since it puts you in direct contact with the doctor, but I'm unable to find emails for doctors at private practices or in hospital directories. Any advice?

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[cactus8910]

I tried to shadow at Kaiser and gave up pretty quickly. It's a bit too bureaucratic to easily facilitate shadowing. I would definitely not recommend lying to get your shadowing done. There has to be a better way.

 

[winterwind_23]

I tried to shadow at Kaiser and gave up pretty quickly. It's a bit too bureaucratic to easily facilitate shadowing. I would definitely not recommend lying to get your shadowing done. There has to be a better way.

The reason I'm trying to shadow at Kaiser is because my brother was able to do it by randomly emailing a bunch of doctors. I think I just need to get one to agree and put me in touch with the person who does the paper work, but it seems like it could be a while before I even get to shadow, considering I'm applying in June.

I think I will call a bunch of private clinics I find on Yelp and ask if I can shadow. I've read about people having luck just cold calling, so hopefully this works for me.

 

[winterwind_23]

I shadowed several doctors at Kaiser as a pre-med. The way I did it was to ask my personal doctor if I could shadow him. He said yes and put me in contact with the person who did all the paperwork for shadowing. It's kind of a long process. They do a background check, you sign a bunch of forms, make sure you have all your vaccinations, tb test, etc. But it was great because my doc linked me up with doctors in other specialties. That's one nice thing about Kaiser!!

Were you affiliated with any Kaiser educational institutions? What school were you enrolled in at the time?

 

[winterwind_23]

Why don't you ask your brother to get in touch with the doc he shadowed? That would be an easy connection.

I did. I emailed the doctor he shadowed and she said she was busy with other students, so she put me in touch with the assistant, who is asking me for my information. I got another response from a Kaiser doctor this morning who said he's getting in touch with his contact about shadowing. Another Kaiser doctor responded saying that she wasn't sure how the premed shadowing program works. I don't think Kaiser doctors get a lot of premeds shadowing them, unfortunately.