Shadowing Help

[YoungGrasshoppa]

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Hey guys,

I'm having a hard time finding doctors to shadow. I've been mainly looking for anesthesiologists to shadow since i wanted to look into an anesthesiology assistant field. Now, i've decided to apply to D.O. school in a year instead, so I want to shadow way more than just Anesthesiologists!

I've mainly been calling office to ask for shadowing opportunities, but i always get the "We'll let you know" followed by an endless wait for an answer that never comes....

Once, i tried to walk into an office and ask but i ended up with the same results. In fact, i never even got to talk to the doctor just the front desk people.

Are there any recommendations on how i can improve my approach to get more opportunities? Anybody graduated from UT and want to share how they got opportunities?

I go to school at UT Austin (filled with pre-meds) which could be why it's so tough to find an opportunity. As of now, I only have ~10hrs of shadowing an anesthesiologist aside from the shadowing i did back in highschool.

 

[baxt1412]

Shotgun approach. Call 20+ offices and you'll probably get a couple. You have to keep following up too, doctors are busy people and stuff can slip their mind.

Ask if any of your pre-med committee staff members can arrange something.

Keep calling.











annnnnnnnnnnd keep calling. if you get something, try your best to make it a regular thing. couple of hours every week would be perfect. smaller clinics may be easier to get into than something at a large hospital. check into private practices too

 

[redvelvet89]

You need to keep calling.

And if they say they will let you know.. Give them few days and call again because not only doctors but the staffs and nurses are busy too and tend to forget.. Hope this helps!

 

[PlaqueBuster]

Are you trying to get in touch with DO's specifically or MD's? If you want to apply to DO school shadowing a osteopathic physician is recommended for a LOR. Go online and see if there are any practicing in your area and call them. Other than what you have been doing, there really isn't anything else to do but hope someone lets you shadow them. If you can find physicians near a college campus or have connections to pre-health advisor then they may be able to help.

 

[karling]

I wrote a letter briefly explaining who I was, why I wanted shadow them, included my contact info, and put it in a sealed envelope addressed to the doctor. I put on some nice clothes, went to the office, handed the envelope to the secretary, explained that I was a student looking to shadow Dr. X, and asked her nicely if she'd pass the letter on to the doctor.

Calling got me nowhere, but this method worked for me.

 

[butternutsquash]

If there's a hospital or clinic that is nearby and affiliated with UT Austin, try asking there. Or you can apply for a part-time scribe program and make some money while shadowing doctors

 

[FutureMD129]

Karling, I'm thrilled to hear you've had success with walking into offices and asking to shadow. I'm thinking of doing this tomorrow as I have an interview at a pediatric office in a building with many medical offices. I wasn't sure if walking into doctor's offices was appropriate so I'm glad to hear that it is.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

I just waited for the doc to leave his office and tailed him to his sick ride and asked him if I can shadow him.


He said yeah.

 

[LuluMed]

I signed up for this program provided by the AOA: http://cf.osteopathic.org/iLearn/home.cfm

I sent a message describing my background, introducing myself, and why I am specifically interested in shadowing them. Of the roughly 10 doctors I contacted, 2 got back to me and I was able to shadow both of them. One provided an AMAZING letter of rec too 😍

 

[Mavs88]

It's really one of those things you have to do but can be so difficult...

One thing I did was email doctors...was able to do this because my school has an affiliated medical school so the emails for the docs showed up as part of the email address database. I know UT doesn't have a med school, but that's an idea.

Just keep pushing...ask docs when you are back home in summer away from Austin? Also, meeting docs via volunteering can help too.

 

[desdes]

I signed up for this program provided by the AOA: http://cf.osteopathic.org/iLearn/home.cfm

I sent a message describing my background, introducing myself, and why I am specifically interested in shadowing them. Of the roughly 10 doctors I contacted, 2 got back to me and I was able to shadow both of them. One provided an AMAZING letter of rec too 😍

I also had luck with the mentor program in finding a doctor to shadow

 

[j4pac]

Back in the day I was probably more aggressive than most. I went to the AOA website, find a physician. I called physicians offices asking to speak with the office manager. Be polite and organized.

It worked.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I wrote a letter briefly explaining who I was, why I wanted shadow them, included my contact info, and put it in a sealed envelope addressed to the doctor. I put on some nice clothes, went to the office, handed the envelope to the secretary, explained that I was a student looking to shadow Dr. X, and asked her nicely if she'd pass the letter on to the doctor.

Calling got me nowhere, but this method worked for me.

This right here. Its easy to dismiss a phone call or even you just dropping by; but handing them a tangible letter can help.

 

[A$$hat]

I wrote a letter briefly explaining who I was, why I wanted shadow them, included my contact info, and put it in a sealed envelope addressed to the doctor. I put on some nice clothes, went to the office, handed the envelope to the secretary, explained that I was a student looking to shadow Dr. X, and asked her nicely if she'd pass the letter on to the doctor.

Calling got me nowhere, but this method worked for me.

I know this is a long time ago now...but did you do this in a hospital or in a private practice? I'm just wondering because there is a MASSIVE hospital in my city, and nearly no private practices because of it. Literally like 2 and they all have told me no. So could I do this in a hospital and go to a random department I'm interested in?