Shadowing & Volunteering

[rlewx]

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I really want to start shadowing doctors to see what the day to day work day is like but it seems to be nearly impossible in my city. I live in a good sized city with multiple hospitals and can't find an office willing to let me shadow.

Also, I need some volunteering hours and the same thing is happening. They require you to fill out an application and then wait literally 264364583838348 years to even respond.

Any advice on what I should do?

 

[confidentandgood]

Have you contacted only hospital offices, or have you checked to see if there are smaller practices willing to let you shadow? Same for the volunteering positions -- have you searched outside of the city as well? If the drive is longer, you could shadow/volunteer a few days a week.

 

[confidentandgood]

.

 

[Catalystik]

I really want to start shadowing doctors to see what the day to day work day is like but it seems to be nearly impossible in my city. I live in a good sized city with multiple hospitals and can't find an office willing to let me shadow.

Also, I need some volunteering hours and the same thing is happening. They require you to fill out an application and then wait literally 264364583838348 years to even respond.

Any advice on what I should do?

Think outside the box and look elsewhere than hospitals. You can get clinical experience with sick people through the workplace, for class credit, data gathering for a clinical trial, or via volunteerism. It can be gained at a free, family-planning, or private clinic, surgicenter, hospice, VA, rehabilitation facility, skilled-level nursing home, among others.

Clinical patient experience is not always gained in a medical environment, eg EMT, battle field medic, home hospice care, physical therapy aide, or special camp environments.

Ideally, you'll pick a location where doctors are present. Once you get to know one, you can hit on them for shadowing experience.

 

[Goro]

Have you asked your family doctor?

 

[rlewx]

Have you asked your family doctor?

My doctors office I use in my college town doesn't allow shadowing and I don't have one back at home.

 

[rlewx]

Have you contacted only hospital offices, or have you checked to see if there are smaller practices willing to let you shadow? Same for the volunteering positions -- have you searched outside of the city as well? If the drive is longer, you could shadow/volunteer a few days a week.

Literally everywhere.

 

[confidentandgood]

Literally everywhere.

Doesn't your campus offer these opportunities?

 

[rlewx]

Doesn't your campus offer these opportunities?

Not really. My school isn't big on medicine so they basically just tell you to go find opportunities yourself.

 

[LizzyM]

Not really. My school isn't big on medicine so they basically just tell you to go find opportunities yourself.

Here's an out of the box idea. Go to your college alumni office and ask if any alumni are MDs in the area near the school or in the area near where you live. If there is even one, ask the alumni office if they'd help you reach out to these alumni to see if any would let you shadow. Alumni offices love, love, love to engage alumni and while they want $$ it is also great to get them to give of their time. Some schools even formalize this and develop opportunities for alumni to take students for week long shadowing that includes being a guest at the doctor's home (radical, I know) over winter break or whenever you wouldn't be in school. This is particularly effective if the doc is in a rural area where you wouldn't otherwise be able to stay (unless you lived in that community already).

 

[Crayola227]

are you hitting up the psychiatrists??

look through my recent post history, search shadow psychiatrist it should pop up for you my tips on how that can help you

once you get in good with the psychiatrist and really show true interest, say, 6 months down the line, you could ask if they could get you in with someone else just so you have the breadth in shadowing that you're going to need to get in

psych can be touchy as to whether or not they can have you shadow since it's touchier subjects for patients, try hitting up neurologists
2 fields that don't get enough student interest and really should, my guess they'll be flattered and have more time to teach and will want to help you find shadowing