Shadowing in the ER

[da8s0859q]

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A local hospital has been kind enough to let a little ol' premedder such as myself spend some time in their emergency department.

I'm looking forward to it since EM is my big interest in medicine at the moment, but... what the hell do you wear to such a thing? I'm guessing semi-casual, with something like slacks / button-up left open over something, or something of the sort.

Would rather not look any more out of place than I already will. 😀

 

[TheRealMD]

Hmm.. Collared short shirt and khaki pants.

 

[trevagandalf]

A local hospital has been kind enough to let a little ol' premedder such as myself spend some time in their emergency department.

I'm looking forward to it since EM is my big interest in medicine at the moment, but... what the hell do you wear to such a thing? I'm guessing semi-casual, with something like slacks / button-up left open over something, or something of the sort.

Would rather not look any more out of place than I already will. 😀

Maybe scrubs? why don't you ask the person you've contacted?? You can buy scrubs at select stores.

 

[psipsina]

I would say scrubs, thats what medstudents are required to wear when we volunteer in the ED at my school. Its one of those places where you are likely to get a little patient on you . . . usually professional attire like slacks etc is for clinics where you're less likely to be sprayed or splattered.

 

[armybound]

the ED I'm volunteering in requires khakis and a white polo so no one mistakes you for an actual employee.

 

[rmorriso]

It's really a hospital by hospital basis. The teaching hospital I shadowed at it was a polo or button down and khakis, to not confuse you with actual students. Another regular hospital I shadowed at was scrubs.

Show up on your first day in a nice shirt and pants and take it from there. Normally if you can wear scrubs the doc might offer you a pair (happened to me).

 

[blasterx]

At the ER I volunteered at I wore scrubs and sometimes a gown. 👍

 

[MossPoh]

I wore kakhis and a collared shirt for all 100+ hours I was there. I wore a white coat sometime, just because the doctor told me to since it made the patients feel a little better to have a guy in a white coat following around rather than some random college aged guy looking like he was going to a frat formal.

Hospitals have scrubs, and they may supply some to you. I wouldn't buy any....but if you ask they usually have no qualms. I've got red, blue and green ones because of it. 😛

 

[trevagandalf]

Yeah, I would say don't buy one unless you must. I did an internship at a hospital that literally had scrubs lying around in the hallway...

 

[LifetimeDoc]

At the ED I volunteer at, we have to wear black pants and a blue smock if you are a boy and a pink smock if you are a girl (yeah, they are stuck in the 1950's and 1960's). At another hospital, they wear polos. Each department is different.

Examples:

 

[gotmeds?]

At the ED I volunteer at, we have to wear black pants and a blue smock if you are a boy and a pink smock if you are a girl (yeah, they are stuck in the 1950's and 1960's). At another hospital, they wear polos. Each department is different.

Examples:

Hey Lifetime, that's you on right, isn't it?

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Hey Lifetime, that's you on right, isn't it?

Nahh...that's me on the left! 😱😀

Get off my lawn, you darn kids!

 

[silverchola]

Calling is yor best. if for some reason you are unable to get in contact with someone that would know go with casual business attire. Also when you get there find out if they have a guest ID for you, so that you are not mistaken for an employee or for that matter an intruder.😀 Have fun and good luck.🙂

 

[prmdbeach17]

At the ED I volunteer at, we have to wear black pants and a blue smock if you are a boy and a pink smock if you are a girl (yeah, they are stuck in the 1950's and 1960's). At another hospital, they wear polos. Each department is different.

Examples:

Lol...at the ED I volunteer at, that's what the "adult" volunteers wear, and the high school/college ones wear polo shirts...which for some reason run like 5 sizes too large and even the small is really big...

 

[shaggybill]

At the ED where I volunteer we wear dark blue polo shirts with the hospital insignia and a pair of khakis. Much better than the purple sportcoats I've seen at some hospitals.

 

[scrubsaresexy]

They gave everyone who volunteered an XL scrub jacket and told us we could wear navy scrub pants if we wanted to. I am about 5'2" and 110 lbs so I ended up paying an extra $15 to get a cobbler apron (think what candy stripers wear, but in navy instead of stripes) which was obnoxious and kept getting in the way. No chance of getting patient on me there; I just sat around and did nothing 🙄

I would call in advance or email the volunteer coordinator, if you have one. That person should be able to let you know.