Shadowing

[BubTheZombie]

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So, I've been hearing a lot that having hospital volunteer hours and shadowing a doctor is monumentally important to getting into medical school. My question is, where/how are you supposed to find shadowing opportunities? My initial assumption was that the Health/Science building at the college I'll be at soon will have "Shadowing" or "Volunteering" openings posted on a bulletin board somewhere. However, it also seems possible that I'll have to go down to a hospital and ask someone there if I can shadow one of their doctors. Can someone who's already in medical school or currently shadowing and/or volunteering please explain how I get my foot in the door with this. Thanks!

 

[prepremed18079]

@BubTheZombie I love shadowing! The first step is either asking your doctor if he/she accepts shadows. If not, have no fear go to the websites of the hospitals or clinics in your area, find their providers page and look at the doctors that you find interesting or match the specialty you wish to go into someday! They usually have physician emails listed, if not go to the human resources, Medical affairs, or Student education page and contact who is listed and inquire about a shadow. Once the first one is done you can't nor will you want to stop!

 

[typhoonegator]

Yeah, you're going to have to aggressively seek out shadowing opportunities. Aside from a feeling of goodwill, the physician doesn't get much out of it, so it's not like they're going to post an opening or something. If your local major academic medical center (or less than that) has a volunteer department (and they probably do), then you can start there as a way of finding out who would be a good fit and how to get in touch with them.

You can certainly try emailing them cold, but nah. I get an incredible amount of emails. I have an admin who helps sort through at least some of them, and it's still very hard to keep up. It's way easier to prioritize you if you know someone I know, or are referred specifically by them through an introductory message. I love to help young aspiring physicians, and we were all in your shoes at some point, but we've got a lot of things competing for our time and paying it forward can easily become a casualty of our divided attention. Work to find ways to insert yourself (in a non-annoying way) such that we have no choice but to address your concern directly. Good luck and believe me that it's worth the effort.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

So, I've been hearing a lot that having hospital volunteer hours and shadowing a doctor is monumentally important to getting into medical school. My question is, where/how are you supposed to find shadowing opportunities? My initial assumption was that the Health/Science building at the college I'll be at soon will have "Shadowing" or "Volunteering" openings posted on a bulletin board somewhere. However, it also seems possible that I'll have to go down to a hospital and ask someone there if I can shadow one of their doctors. Can someone who's already in medical school or currently shadowing and/or volunteering please explain how I get my foot in the door with this. Thanks!

From personal experience, cold call works, but its a depressing process. I pulled up a directory for physicians around my area and just went down the list asking if they took pre-med shadows. You should expect that most places will shut you out since saturation is so real in many parts of the country (I'm from california). I went through maybe 50 or so places, left a ton of voice mails and eventually got some love from a clinic about an hour and a half away from me. The commute wasn't pretty, but it was something I wasn't going to left my jaws off of. Unfortunately this is becoming exacerbated as competition becomes more fierce by the year. Good luck, and work hard.

 

[member000000000]

You are in high school and you are worrying about shadowing?... I didn't even know what shadowing was in high school! See what SDN is doing to our youth? Making pre premed students more and more neurotic. Lol.

But to answer your question, I was able to shadow by first becoming a volunteer in the ER. Once a volunteer, I simply asked the volunteer coordinator about shadowing and I was set up with a resident. For the volunteer program I was in, you had to be 18+. That might hold you back a bit in some places.

Just so you know, medical schools don't care about anything you did in high school. If you are doing this just because you want to, great! If you are doing this thinking it will increase your chances of getting into medical school, it won't. It doesn't "count" unless you do it in college or beyond. Anything that happens in high school is only relevant until you are accepted into college... Then it's like it never happened.

 

[spiffysteve]

It doesn't "count" unless you do it in college or beyond. Anything that happens in high school is only relevant until you are accepted into college... Then it's like it never happened.

While this may be true in some cases, I don't think it's a good blanket statement. I have had my Boy Scout experience brought up in multiple interviews, and was able to point to my (admittedly limited) high school shadowing to say that I had seen the lifestyles differences between specialties.

As for finding shadowing opportunities, ask parents/other family members/teachers if they happen to know any doctors you could shadow. Do you or your parents have a primary care physician? They may be a good person to ask. Anybody you have a personal link with (however weak) could be a possible option..

 

[member000000000]

@spiffysteve I think your case is pretty rare. I have never really heard of anyone getting asked about high school experiences during medical school interviews. I was advised by many that you shouldn't put high school info on your application at all. But if it helped you get an acceptance, that's a plus.

 

[spiffysteve]

@spiffysteve I think your case is pretty rare. I have never really heard of anyone getting asked about high school experiences during medical school interviews. I was advised by many that you shouldn't put high school info on your application at all. But if it helped you get an acceptance, that's a plus.

Boy Scouts may be an exception, because being an Eagle Scout is something that some people hold in high regard. But I guess both viewpoints can be valid because we're both in.

 

[sonofva]

i wouldn't say that having a lot of shadowing hours is "monumentally" important. doing some shadowing is important, enough that you can get good letters of rec from some physicians. i would say that your GPA and MCAT are monumentally important.

 

[prepremed18079]

@member000000000 you seem like the most arrogant med student i know

 

[member000000000]

@prepremed18079 me? Arrogant? Lol. I have never heard that in my life. Just trying to help out. I had no idea about the process until I was well into college and was trying to share some of the things I have learned with others so it may be a little easier for them. Sorry it came off that way.

Just to let you know, saying pre premed in my post was coincidental. I read it over to see where I offended but not sure if that's what you were talking about. Maybe it hard to interpret intent via the Internet.

PS. I'm not a med student yet. I don't start until the fall.

 

[Meeehai]

@member000000000 you seem like the most arrogant med student i know

It's not arrogant at all, it's the truth. Your high school extracurriculars are essentially meaningless to medical school admission committees unless it's something really great or something you have continued to pursue throughout college.

i wouldn't say that having a lot of shadowing hours is "monumentally" important. doing some shadowing is important, enough that you can get good letters of rec from some physicians. i would say that your GPA and MCAT are monumentally important.

I disagree, I don't think applicants should seek letters of recommendation from physicians they have only known through shadowing.

 

[sonofva]

It's not arrogant at all, it's the truth. Your high school extracurriculars are essentially meaningless to medical school admission committees unless it's something really great or something you have continued to pursue throughout college.



I disagree, I don't think applicants should seek letters of recommendation from physicians they have only known through shadowing.

what other physicians should they get LORs from?

 

[Meeehai]

what other physicians should they get LORs from?

Ones they have actually worked with for a significant amount of time. What kind of competencies or skills can a shadowing physician advocate for? That the applicant was well behaved and watched silently in a corner?

 

[sonofva]

Ones they have actually worked with for a significant amount of time. What kind of competencies or skills can a shadowing physician advocate for? That the applicant was well behaved and watched silently in a corner?

How do you get a job working for a physician for a significant amount of time without having an LPN or the like or just working the front desk at an office? And if these are the interactions you've had with a physician who writes your letters, what "competencies" can they laud you about that will actually have an impact on your future career as a physician?

 

[TheFaultInOurScores]

Ones they have actually worked with for a significant amount of time. What kind of competencies or skills can a shadowing physician advocate for? That the applicant was well behaved and watched silently in a corner?

Well, I suppose that if you were to shadow your primary care physician whom you have known for over a decade, then of course the physician would be more cognizant of more than just your behavior during the shadowing process.

 

[Meeehai]

How do you get a job working for a physician for a significant amount of time without having an LPN or the like or just working the front desk at an office? And if these are the interactions you've had with a physician who writes your letters, what "competencies" can they laud you about that will actually have an impact on your future career as a physician?

Then the applicant is better off getting letters from other people. It's not impossible to find a job as a tech or similar without a special license. There are a lot of qualities they could vouch for such as teamwork, communication skills, reliability, timeliness, etc. These qualities are much more believable coming from a physician that is supervising and directing the applicants activities rather than a physician that is just being watched.

Well, I suppose that if you were to shadow your primary care physician whom you have known for over a decade, then of course the physician would be more cognizant of more than just your behavior during the shadowing process.

Perhaps. But again I think you would run the risk of having the letter come off as if the physician is speaking for your behavior as a friend rather than someone who has actually witnessed you displaying that behavior. There is a difference between "I've known so and so for x years and he/shes a really good kid" and "I have worked with so and so and he has displayed and worked on x qualities which make him a good candidate for med school."

I don't know if things have changed recently, but as far as I know most schools don't require a physician letter. I'm not trying to say it's easy to get a strong physician letter but rather to focus on obtaining letters that can significantly strengthen your application.