Shadowing tomorrow and Thursday

Med School Insiders
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Prncssbuttercup

Prncssbuttercup

Established Member -- Family Medicine Attending
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
3,131
Reaction score
253
Points
5,191
Location
Where ever I am, I wish I was in Versailles
  1. Attending Physician
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I am shadowing the clinic attached to my school of preference tomorrow and Thursday. Any hints, ideas, etc for what to do, or what not to do? Thanks!
 
Don't lean up against the wall and turn the lights off while the doctor is doing an exam
 
SBB2016 said:
I am shadowing the clinic attached to my school of preference tomorrow and Thursday. Any hints, ideas, etc for what to do, or what not to do? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Don't ask questions while patients are being examined. Try to read the situation - there are good times and bad times to ask questions. Good luck!
 
If you're going to shadow, be honest about it. Use the time to learn about medicine, don't treat the experience as an opportunity to advertise yourself to your "school of preference." Sucking up or pretending you know more than you do is painfully transparent to just about everyone else.
 
The goal is to hopefully be able to shadow a few times here because it is 2 miles from my husband's apartment... If I develop enough rapport to ask for a letter, so be it... Considering the doctors are also faculty, I will take advantage of any opportunity that comes my way... as everyone else does... My understanding is to not say anything in the room with the patient, as it's not my place, I am supposed to be a silent observer, unless I am told otherwise by the doctor... Additionally, what is there to be dishonest about? I am there to shadow, this is the school I would prefer to go to, if I am asked, I will say that outright... I have never found that lies get you very far in life... maybe in the short term, but never in the long term...
 
MaryGoRound said:
Don't lean up against the wall and turn the lights off while the doctor is doing an exam
Click to expand...

This is a bigger deal than you would imagine. The point is to keep tabs of your surroundings and make sure you do nothing to change the environment.

I have come very close to hitting light switches, changing the temp on thermostats in operating rooms, falling into trash bins, standing on suction lines, etc.. You get the idea... watch yourself. That's one of the biggest things to catch on to when you first start shadowing.
 
lsu hopeful said:
This is a bigger deal than you would imagine. The point is to keep tabs of your surroundings and make sure you do nothing to change the environment.

I have come very close to hitting light switches, changing the temp on thermostats in operating rooms, falling into trash bins, standing on suction lines, etc.. You get the idea... watch yourself. That's one of the biggest things to catch on to when you first start shadowing.
Click to expand...

I posted this because I actually did it my first day. In the exam room there was a doctor, 2 residents, the patient, both of her parents and myself. I squeezed into the corner to try to stay out of the way and ended up hitting the light switch. Lesson learned. Fortunately for me, the doctor I've been shadowing didn't hold it against me.
 
@mary, I figured you had... Thankfully, the clinic is small, it is family practice, so I doubt very much I'll have to worry about anything besides turning the lights off! I am hoping it will be a great experience...
 
This is a pretty obvious one, but make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before. I had a late-night lab class the night before I shadowed a Dr. I got home around 11:30 pm, and probably got 4-5 hours of sleep.

He was a great Dr--but sort of anti-caffeine, very organic. He didn't like that I was inhaling diet coke at 8AM.

Have fun,

Fay
 
MaryGoRound said:
I posted this because I actually did it my first day. In the exam room there was a doctor, 2 residents, the patient, both of her parents and myself. I squeezed into the corner to try to stay out of the way and ended up hitting the light switch. Lesson learned. Fortunately for me, the doctor I've been shadowing didn't hold it against me.
Click to expand...

Don't want to derail, but I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't replying to your comment, I was adding to it. You brought up something very important to beginning shadowing. 😎
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
lsu hopeful said:
Don't want to derail, but I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't replying to your comment, I was adding to it. You brought up something very important to beginning shadowing. 😎
Click to expand...

No problem, just wanted to own up to my own mistakes 😀

To the original poster, some other stuff to keep in mind would be to keep your reactions to things under control. Yes, you may walk into a room and find a felon in handcuffs escorted by two armed guards. You may see a patient who has some mental issues and their body odor is so strong that the room has to be aired out later. A knee replacement incision that's opened up to the bone. Keep your face neutral. Patients are watching your reaction.
 
No matter, I won't be shadowing after all... I got to the clinic, and it's closed for the holidays, no one bothered to call and tell me not to come... SUPER... Still want to go to the school, but the clinic management obviously needs work...

As far as the other stuff goes, yeah, I've volunteered at the ER in my local hospital, as well as doing NSP work for 17+ years, smells bother me, the rest doesn't... except severely angulated fractures or joints... they creep me out... At any rate, for the future, I have a check list (in no particular order) 1. don't turn off the lights, 2. don't faint, 3. don't get grossed out and make funny faces (yes, appropriate response is leave the room politely), 4. don't act like a jack ass KIA, 5. look presentable, 6. make sure the clinic is open 😀
 
Thanks for the link! I'm going to call some of the local hospitals when I get home, I have plenty of clinical doctors I can shadow, but I would really like to shadow some hospitalists as the work is considerably different...
 
What do you all normally where when shadowing? In the ED where I volunteer the shadows where business casual clothes with a white jacket. I might be shadowing an orthopedic surgeon, for instance, who does a lot of surgery. Should I have scrubs on hand? Do I need a white jacket?
 
katiemaude said:
What do you all normally where when shadowing? In the ED where I volunteer the shadows where business casual clothes with a white jacket. I might be shadowing an orthopedic surgeon, for instance, who does a lot of surgery. Should I have scrubs on hand? Do I need a white jacket?
Click to expand...

I would call them and ask what they'd prefer you wear, I know other people have posted before that when following a surgeon, they wore scrubs...
 
I shadowed an interventional cardiologist in the Cath Lab last week. A few things that come to mind:

1. Ask questions. It's likely they'll want to tell you about the clinical side of what they're doing, and it's likely that whatever that is is pretty cool to you, but that's not really why you're there. You're there to get an understanding of what the practice of medicine is like. You'll probably have to ask about that kind of stuff: How many patients do you see a day? What are your hours like? What is training like for x specialty? How much paperwork do you have? What are some concerns about the future of medicine? How do you balance family and work? Would you do it again?

2. It's better to dress up than down; business casual (slacks + button-up shirt / blouse) is a safe bet. Think about what a doctor looks like when you go to their office - you want to look like that. If you're going to be in a procedural area (Cath Lab, Surgery, Interventional Radiology, etc) you may have to change into scrubs, but you should still look presentable when you arrive. They should provide scrubs but you should double-check with whoever you scheduled the shadow with. If you tend to be cold, wear a long-sleeved shirt for under the scrubs - procedural rooms tend to be chilly.

3. Send a thank-you after the fact.

4. If you'd like to shadow again, mention it before you leave. It's hard to get the attention of physicians after you're out of their line of sight.

5. If you get to scrub in on a procedure, Don't. Touch. Anything. Don't pick something up, don't scratch your nose, don't lean in unless told to. Keep your hands folded at your chest to keep yourself out of trouble.

6. If you feel like you've gotta go, go as soon as possible. You never know when your next chance will be and you don't want to be stuck in an exam room doing the potty dance while the doctor's interviewing a terminally ill patient.
 
I'm sorry to reopen a thread I started 4 months ago... but looking for advice... on... SHOES!! I have 'special' feet, it is hard for me to wear 'dress' shoes for long periods on hard floors. I am not sure if I should buy athletic shoes that are solid black or solid white, or if I can get away with my grey/blue north face shoes??? It may seem like a dumb question, but this is not something I want to screw up! 🙂
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
An idea for dress shoes would be to buy the Dr. scholls orthodic semi-custom inserts. You can look them up online and then find them in your local stores. They have them at Wal-Mart where I live, but your area may be different. They have a machine that will you pick out the right ones. Here they cost $50. They should help you stand for longer periods of time in dress shoes. Let me know if this helps.
 
I have inserts. That's why they don't fit in dress shoes. My right leg is 1/2" shorter than my left, so it is 'taller' than the other... like I said, 'special' feet 😉
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
Including shadowing done in HS iff it was meaningful
Replies
4
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
S
Just started clinical volunteering/shadowing… will it be enough to apply 2026-2027?
Replies
2
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
M
Fifth Year Senior, Non-Trad, No Clinical Experience, No Non-Clinical Volunteering, No Research & Barely any Shadowing
Replies
3
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
K
Nontraditional premed and needs some advice
Replies
1
Views
1K
HuskyMD Emeritus
H
J
Gaining Clinical and Shadowing Experience
Replies
11
Views
3K
JToney
J
Top Bottom