Hi everybody. I’m a first year DPT student. I’ve been a little anxious to see what the actual clinic is like before our first clinical in the fall. This semester has a lighter workload than my first semester, so I have more free time on my hands and was thinking about trying to observe in a clinic. I never felt like I got much from my volunteering experiences a few years ago. I wouldn’t want to actually apply for a part-time job, but ask if I would be able to shadow for a few hours on the weekend or a Friday so I could get used to the environment and see what goes on (and maybe try a few different clinics too). My questions are: is it appropriate for a first year student to shadow / volunteer like this, and do you think doing this would be beneficial or not? Thanks for any input!
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Shadowing Question
Started by E-SPT
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
If you're able to handle your course load, then absolutely why not! Go for it!
I think it's a great idea. I'm also a first year student, and our program actually has us shadow in a couple of clinics for a half day each week during our second semester (and doing some hands on stuff here and there in addition to shadowing). I'm already feeling a lot more confident about our first full-time clinical in the fall because of the experience. I think it could be really valuable.
You got it. No problem.
