Shadowing in Psychiatry

[opheracco]

I've tried calling a couple of psychiatry offices to get some shadowing experience, but they always talk about liability due to the nature of some of the patients.

I need to know who and where to shadow, obviously I'm interested in psychiatry, but will it even matter what type of doctor I shadow for admissions into med school?

What type of doctors did people here shadow, and where were the easiest places to go to find shadowing opportunities?

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[notdeadyet]

I've tried calling a couple of psychiatry offices to get some shadowing experience, but they always talk about liability due to the nature of some of the patients.

I never had any luck either, back in the day.

I need to know who and where to shadow, obviously I'm interested in psychiatry, but will it even matter what type of doctor I shadow for admissions into med school?

It couldn't matter less, from and admissions standpoint.

And shadowing isn't a requirement. What every adcom wants to see on every applicants app is that you 1) know what a doctor actually does for a living and 2) know what it's like to be around patients.

If you can fulfill 1 and 2 through shadowing, hab at it. But there are plenty of other opportunities that will prepare you just as well that you may find more satisfying.

A lot of folks go through ER volunteer programs, as these tend to be exciting and you see a wide variety of patients. How much interaction you get with the patients varies widely with the program.

An underused option is to volunteer at free clinics. These tend to be underfunded, so they usually welcome the help. You can get some great work hands-on with the patients as well as working closely with the docs at some places.

And hospice can be a good opportunity. You usually get zero or near-zero physician interaction, but you can play a meaningful role at a crucial point in a patient's life.

So don't be too discouraged if you can't set up shadowing opportunities. There are lots of other ways to spend time with doctors as well...

 

[TexasPhysician]

I've known a few people that began by volunteering in an inpatient psychiatric facility doing whatever. From there they expressed interest to a physician when they got the chance to meet them. If you already have clearance to be in the facility, inpatient docs can be open to letting you sit-in with patients.

Inpatient psych just seems easier to shadow in my experiences. Outpatient would have many more barriers.

 

[futuredo32]

You might have better luck contacting the psychiatry department of a medical school or psychiatrists who work with residents.
I had a really hard time finding any doctor in any field to let me shadow them as a premed. However, as a med student, I noticed that there were a lot of premeds shadowing doctors who were affiliated with the medical school.
Good luck