Shadowing friend of family member

[cnl61]

So my dad is a surgeon, and when I was a kid, the pediatrician I saw was a friend of my dad's. I was thinking about asking to shadow my old pediatrician, but when I mentioned this to my dad, he became uncomfortable and said that I couldn't do that because there would be a "conflict of interest."

I am a little confused because I have seen countless comments on SDN about people shadowing friends of family members. It's not like I would be asking for a letter of recommendation from him. Would there be something wrong with this situation?

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[efle]

Just ask your dad to hook you up with some other people he works with then? Doesn't have to be your own pediatrician

 

[deleted781806]

I think the discomfort might have been stemming from the fact that he was your previous physician, and shadowing your own doctor might be a bit strange? I don't know about the whole "conflict of interest" thing mentioned, but yeah I think it might just be best to try and shadow another doc. Shadowing a family friend is definitely not a big deal, I did that as well, but they weren't one of my previous physicians.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

There shouldn't be an issue-- I've shadowed a family friend who is a dermatologist. Granted, he wasn't my doctor, but still.

However, if your dad cares, it's not worth making a fuss over. Just find someone else..especially since your dad is a doctor, he could definitely hook you up with someone else. Even if not, it's easy to find someone on your own.

 

[LizzyM]

It would be a conflict of interest if you were to ask him for a LOR (because he is a family friend) but LORs from docs you shadow aren't worth much (unless the doc is a DO and you are applying to DO schools), so shadow that doc or ask your dad to connect you with some of his colleagues.

 

[Catalystik]

So my dad is a surgeon, and when I was a kid, the pediatrician I saw was a friend of my dad's. I was thinking about asking to shadow my old pediatrician, but when I mentioned this to my dad, he became uncomfortable and said that I couldn't do that because there would be a "conflict of interest."

Maybe your dad feels the shadowing would be viewed by others as cronyism (in light of their longstanding friendship). Or perhaps he doesn't want the pediatrician telling you stories of the times they had fun together in their youth.

You might ask for further details of what your dad means by 'conflict of interest'.