Shadowing General Practioner Bad?

[Ugly Boy]

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I'm shadowing an Internal Medicine practitioner with his own practice. I'm wondering if it's necessary to find other docs to shadow - the ones with higher specialization, i.e., surgeons, cardiologists, etc. The latter are so hard to find and obtain their approval. So do schools care what kind of doctors you're shadowing or it doesn't matter as long as they have an MD after their name? Or do they prefer that I shadow docs in the hospital?

 

[medstylee]

I'm shadowing an Internal Medicine practitioner with his own practice. I'm wondering if it's necessary to find other docs to shadow - the ones with higher specialization, i.e., surgeons, cardiologists, etc. The latter are so hard to find and obtain their approval. So do schools care what kind of doctors you're shadowing or it doesn't matter as long as they have an MD after their name? Or do they prefer that I shadow docs in the hospital?

i guess it depends on how the experience goes. i know that my g.p. is absolutely miserable being a physician. he sees 8 billion people a day, spends like 3 minutes with each patient, etc. every time i've gone for my physical over the past few years, he's tried his best to convince me not to become a physician. in any case, obviously not all g.p.'s are miserable. but, it is a really tough gig, these days, to be a g.p. i think shadowing different types of docs would be great, even if you have a wonderful experience following the g.p. i have been working in a pathology lab this year and i'm pretty amazed at how much more interesting and diverse pathology is than i had originally suspected. clearly, you'll get the exposure to different fields in medical school. but, for now, shadowing different physicians will (hopefully) give you a little hint of the range of possibilities out there and will give you some things to feel excited about. best of luck. i hope your experience is a good one.

 

[LabMonster]

i guess it depends on how the experience goes. i know that my g.p. is absolutely miserable being a physician. he sees 8 billion people a day, spends like 3 minutes with each patient, etc. every time i've gone for my physical over the past few years, he's tried his best to convince me not to become a physician. in any case, obviously not all g.p.'s are miserable. but, it is a really tough gig, these days, to be a g.p. i think shadowing different types of docs would be great, even if you have a wonderful experience following the g.p. i have been working in a pathology lab this year and i'm pretty amazed at how much more interesting and diverse pathology is than i had originally suspected. clearly, you'll get the exposure to different fields in medical school. but, for now, shadowing different physicians will (hopefully) give you a little hint of the range of possibilities out there and will give you some things to feel excited about. best of luck. i hope your experience is a good one.

My GP was very exicted for me - he loves his work. Not all GPs are jaded.

This is also why, if you have the time, to seek out a variety of shadowing opportunities with different physicians (and specialties.)

 

[Sanctuary]

As an employee for OHSU School of Medicine, I've asked several professors about various "shadowing" and related "observational" work. The general response seems to be that shadowing doesn't help or hinder your application. Everyone I asked seemed to be very neutral to the experience. Conversely, if you volunteer in a medical clinic assisting the nursing staff, as well as the physicians, that will be a MUCH more favorable experience.

Now, you must realize that the line between shadowing and volunteering is often blurred. For this reason, many activities that you did while shadowing really apply to what a volunteer would be doing. If this is the case for you, I would HIGHLY suggest you state that you were a volunteer for "xxxx" and that on top of 'following a physician around', you also assisted patients with blah blah blah...

Again, this is just from one medical school, and us Oregonians are known to be quirky. 🙂

 

[star22]

As an employee for OHSU School of Medicine, I've asked several professors about various "shadowing" and related "observational" work. The general response seems to be that shadowing doesn't help or hinder your application. Everyone I asked seemed to be very neutral to the experience. Conversely, if you volunteer in a medical clinic assisting the nursing staff, as well as the physicians, that will be a MUCH more favorable experience.

Now, you must realize that the line between shadowing and volunteering is often blurred. For this reason, many activities that you did while shadowing really apply to what a volunteer would be doing. If this is the case for you, I would HIGHLY suggest you state that you were a volunteer for "xxxx" and that on top of 'following a physician around', you also assisted patients with blah blah blah...

Again, this is just from one medical school, and us Oregonians are known to be quirky. 🙂

Actually, I also work for OHSU and I am applying this cycle, and I 100% disagree. When you are shadowing, you get to see exactly what the doctor does.... the questions s/he asks while taking histories, the tests they order (and why they chose them), you get to see the scans/x-rays that come back, the doc often points out the important elements of them, and they often explain what medications they are prescribing and why. You also get to see more of the difficulties that the doc encounters too... when they are stumped by a case they have never seen before, trying to find tertiary care for a patient with no insurance, etc.

Yes, this might overlap some with what you do as a volunteer, but I have found shadowing to be a much better learning experience--you actually have the chance to get to know the doctor and ask more thoughtful questions than you do as a volunteer (especially if you are volunteering somewhere like OHSU where there are tons of residents, med students, nursing students, paramedic students and other volunteers in line to see the cool stuff).

 

[gujuDoc]

My GP was very exicted for me - he loves his work. Not all GPs are jaded.

This is also why, if you have the time, to seek out a variety of shadowing opportunities with different physicians (and specialties.)

True, and for that matter many doctors in all fields are jaded while many are happy. It just depends on where you go. I've shadowed mostly academic physicians who are part of USF med school faculty and most of them are happy. However, i've heard other stories too from doctors who have said they wouldn't do it again.

Most of the clinics I shadow in spend a good 30 minutes with each patients, which is especially true of neurology clinics (2 that I've shadowed in now). The OB I shadowed was like that too.

 

[Va-Jay-Jay]

You don't NEED any shadowing experience to get into medical school, although it helps the preMed student in coming to their decision about whether or not medicine is the right path. If you know you want to be a doc and had to choose between the two -- always pick volunteering. During your time in medical school, you'll have more time than you'll ever imagine working with docs in various specialties.

Oh, and happy med student here who never spent an hour shadowing a doc before med school.

 

[gujuDoc]

You don't NEED any shadowing experience to get into medical school, although it helps the preMed student in coming to their decision about whether or not medicine is the right path. If you know you want to be a doc and had to choose between the two -- always pick volunteering. During your time in medical school, you'll have more time than you'll ever imagine working with docs in various specialties.

Oh, and happy med student here who never spent an hour shadowing a doc before med school.

I agree with this. If you had to pick between volunteering and shadowing, volunteering wins out. However, the fact that you have a little shadowing experience will certainly be a plus. But I'd put more stock into doing something like volunteering at a clinic. If you are bilingual you can volunteer at a free clinic translating. Otherwise, other things you could do is read to children in waiting rooms, volunteer doing activities with kids. Go on medical mission trips if you get a chance, volunteer in some non-medical capacities too if possible.

These are just ideas, but there are many other ways to gain volunteer experience. Hospice or camps for terminally ill people (here in fl. we have camp boggy creek) or facilities such as that are good ones.

Nursing homes are also good.

Those are for medical opportunities, but community service in soup kitchens and so forth are also nice.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I'm shadowing an Internal Medicine practitioner with his own practice. I'm wondering if it's necessary to find other docs to shadow - the ones with higher specialization, i.e., surgeons, cardiologists, etc. The latter are so hard to find and obtain their approval. So do schools care what kind of doctors you're shadowing or it doesn't matter as long as they have an MD after their name? Or do they prefer that I shadow docs in the hospital?

1. Internal medicine is a specialty (internal medicine isn't the same thing as general practice)

2. It is actually preferred that you shadow someone who isn't super-specialized to get a broad view of medicine (i.e. internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, or emergency medicine.)

3. It doesn't matter who you shadow or where you shadow them at.

 

[OSUdoc08]

You don't NEED any shadowing experience to get into medical school, although it helps the preMed student in coming to their decision about whether or not medicine is the right path. If you know you want to be a doc and had to choose between the two -- always pick volunteering. During your time in medical school, you'll have more time than you'll ever imagine working with docs in various specialties.

Oh, and happy med student here who never spent an hour shadowing a doc before med school.

1. Some schools require that you submit a letter from a physician that you have shadowed (although people sometimes just get doctors they know to sign a letter.)

2. I volunteered in the ER, and consider it synonymous with shadowing, since I did the exact same thing (followed a physician), but I was actually a help instead of just there being in the way.

 

[pseudoknot]

I'm shadowing an Internal Medicine practitioner with his own practice. I'm wondering if it's necessary to find other docs to shadow - the ones with higher specialization, i.e., surgeons, cardiologists, etc.

If, during an interview, you expose the attitude that you think specialists are "higher" than primary care docs, you'll probably end up reapplying next year. Everyone wants students who are into primary care, even though they all change their minds later.

 

[Ugly Boy]

I intend on shadowing another doctor to broaden my view. However, he's a family practitioner, would this be considered a waste of my time, since I'm already shadowing an Internal Medicine?

 

[DeigoT]

I intend on shadowing another doctor to broaden my view. However, he's a family practitioner, would this be considered a waste of my time, since I'm already shadowing an Internal Medicine?

Not necessarily, seeing that there is some differences in the scope of practice between the internal medicine and family practice physician. Many family practice docs also provide care for peds and OB population. If this provider has a fair number of these patients, then the experience can be different.

If I were shadowing someone and had no particular interest in any specialty, I would probably choose family practice (over internal medicine) since it allows for more exposure to different populations. If, as in your case, I had already shadowed someone in IM and was ready to do another shadowing, I would probably do something completely different like surgery, ID, oncology, path, etc. I think those physicians would have a different take on the practice of medicine, while the FP and IM docs may have more similarity in their issues/concerns.

 

[notdeadyet]

1. Internal medicine is a specialty (internal medicine isn't the same thing as general practice)

True also for family practice. I think that though "GP" is used for both, a general practitioner is really used for a doctor who is not board certified. Correct me if I'm wrong on this, anyone...

 

[OSUdoc08]

True also for family practice. I think that though "GP" is used for both, a general practitioner is really used for a doctor who is not board certified. Correct me if I'm wrong on this, anyone...

Correct. GP's are those who have only completed a year of internship or no residency at all. Back in the day, you didn't have to do a residency.

 

[TypeA]

The purpose of shadowing is to be exposed to what it is like to be a doc on a day to day basis. The good and the bad.

If the GP is miserable...go see why. It will be educational. I say grab as many specialties as you can get...experience them via shadowing.

Now, if your GP is so negative about his profession that it is annoying, then go elsewhere for your first doc. I first approached my plastic surg about shadowing because she has been so supportive and enthusiastic about my desires. She was excited about having me shadow. Then, unsolicitedly (is that even a word?) she offered to hook me up with a friend of hers in a different specialty as well. Cool. 😎

I would like to shadow a GP - for the purpose of seeing what they go through. That's the point. Besides, you never know what kind of super-specialists they have as friends!

Good luck.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

To echo OSUDoc, can we please stop using the term "G.P." to refer to someone who is a specialist in either Family Medicine or Internal Medicine? "G.P." is not a generic term for a primary care physician. A General Practitioner is someone who completed a one-year internship and no residency - you won't find very many left in practice. What you will find is an extremely annoyed FP or IM if you use the term "G.P." If you get into the habit of using this term and refer to a "G.P." in an interview (or anywhere in med school, for that matter), you're likely to get your ears pinned back.

OK, as an aspiring IM physician, I've had my little fit for the day.