shadowing

[stwei]

What kind of experiences would you be looking for during the shadowing and which ones to avoid? Should a written contract be signed designating what the learning objectives are? Should you be paying a PA/physician in order to shadow them?

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[wickliffe2]

Unless you are qualified as a nurse, EMT, etc, you should really not have any hands-on contact with a patient while shadowing. The main purpose of shadowing is to get a feel for how PA's interact with patients, nurses, and doctors. I see shadowing as more of a time to learn about the career than actual medical techniques/procedures (although you will pick things up along the way). I don't think you should ever have to pay to shadow a PA. In my experience, PAs tend to look out for each other and want to promote the occupation; thereby making them more than happy to help you out if at all possible. The best advise I can give for shadowing is to keep a log of patients you see and things you observe...it can be a very rewarding experience! Hope this helps!