The Secret to getting a DO to Shadow!!!

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alright so I was in the same boat I see many of you are in... calling dozens of DOs, none can shadow... after my 15th rejection/no way to reach, I decided to try a new strategy... and bam, I received 5 shadowing opportunities today alone... this is what I did:

1. Go to the AOA website or you own states osteopathic association website and get a list of DOs you would like to shadow, office addresses, and information regarding their practice.

2. DO NOT CALL THEM!!! they are way to busy... instead, go as formal as possible. I wrote a cover letter stating my interest in shadowing them and snail mailed it to their office with my resume/CV and contact info included. Further, my cover letter informed them that I would contact them in a week to answer any questions or concerns they might have. 9 days later, I call back, and today 5 out of the 10 DOs who recieved my letter agreed to let me shadow them. the other 5... well, 3 left the practice, 1 is deploying to Afganistan (was sure ot thank them for their service to our country), and 1 is currently on vacation (going to try to call his office again next week).

This may be an old strategy... but I havent seen it on here (then again i am new)... thought it may help some of you out... even though you are not getting paid to shadow... treat it as a job! because lacking this experience can break your career before you even get your foot in the door...

 

[Krisss17]

alright so I was in the same boat I see many of you are in... calling dozens of DOs, none can shadow... after my 15th rejection/no way to reach, I decided to try a new strategy... and bam, I received 5 shadowing opportunities today alone... this is what I did:

1. Go to the AOA website or you own states osteopathic association website and get a list of DOs you would like to shadow, office addresses, and information regarding their practice.

2. DO NOT CALL THEM!!! they are way to busy... instead, go as formal as possible. I wrote a cover letter stating my interest in shadowing them and snail mailed it to their office with my resume/CV and contact info included. Further, my cover letter informed them that I would contact them in a week to answer any questions or concerns they might have. 9 days later, I call back, and today 5 out of the 10 DOs who recieved my letter agreed to let me shadow them. the other 5... well, 3 left the practice, 1 is deploying to Afganistan (was sure ot thank them for their service to our country), and 1 is currently on vacation (going to try to call his office again next week).

This may be an old strategy... but I havent seen it on here (then again i am new)... thought it may help some of you out... even though you are not getting paid to shadow... treat it as a job! because lacking this experience can break your career before you even get your foot in the door...

Great advice! Thank you!

 

[twocentnews]

I agree. I did the same thing earlier and I ended up getting 2 doctors, both of whom responded as soon as they got my letter.

 

[Bacchus]

Another powerful tool is asking your own PCP for contacts or some shadowing hours. My PCP was ecstatic to take me on for the summer. Despite the patient-doctor relationship, its not awkward trying to form and mature the mentor-student relationship and you can get a lot out of the experience.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Man, I think I lucked out when it came to shadowing a DO. I don't even live in a highly populated state, but I signed up for the AOA mentor program, within a week I had two doctors willing to shadow, thanked both, went with one, shadowed, he was awesome, gave me a letter of rec about a month after I shadowed (also a alum at a school I would LOVE to attend).

 

[neuf07]

I actually didn't realize i was so into DO school until a bit late in the game, so i had to scramble to find a DO to shadow for some of the schools i applied to. Since i live in a small town in NW ohio, i had about 5 DO's to choose from...so needless to say it was difficult to get in to shadow one! Initially i was rejected by all of the offices i called, but i kept on calling.... almost every day until i finally got ahold of the Dr and asked them if i could shadow them. I'm sure the office staff HATED me because of my constant calls, but eventually i got to talk to one of the Drs on the phone and he was very understanding and flexible to letting me shadow. It turned out to be one of the best experiences i've ever had..i observed many fascinating procedures and he ended up becoming a close mentor of mine. So if you are having trouble, don't give up at the first rejection...keep calling and push your way in!!!

 

[rugger14]

I am a PCA in a hospital with a good number of DO's. We have a hospital wide email system and I just threw a bunch of emails out there. pretty easy for me👍

 

[bigyihoroi]

Hmmm...I got referral from the AOA and there were over 6 D.O.'s contacting me through email about their opportunities for shadowing.

Here's the email that I received after contacting the AOA representative:

Good Morning,

Thank you for your interest in our osteopathic family. If you are interested in shadowing a DO in the Los Angeles area, just send me an introductory email telling me a little about yourself. Tell me how you learned about osteopathic medicine, your current status as a student, or are you working in the healthcare field? Tell me your availability to shadow, and when you are planning to apply to medical school?

Upon receipt of this email, I will forward it to our mentors in the LA area and you will be contacted by email directly. Be sure to respond to each reply that you receive. If you have not heard from anyone within 10 days, send me another email and we will broaden our search.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
Verna Bronersky
Director - Outreach Programs


Try this email and contact Verna and see if she can help.

[email protected]

Good Luck!

 

[nevinleiby]

LOL...I guess I'm a little too ballsy then...

I just found there name in the hospital directory where I worked...memorized their picture, title, specialty, medical school, residency, etc. If I saw them in the ED, etc, I'd just ask them straight up if I could shadow them:

"Hello, Dr So-and-so, I'm ____ and I am currently in the process of applying to osteopathic medical school. I saw that you were from ___, which not only was an osteopathic medical school, but it is also a school that I am very interested in. Do you mind if I would be able to shadow you for a few hours whenever it would be convenient?"

In the process, I also got to know the residents very well and worked my way up to sitting in on the residency presentations =)

Just be able to articulate why you are interested in osteopathy. Know a little bit about it (Read "The DOs" - Gevitz) and why you think that it is something that you would consider doing for the rest of your career. Usually worked for me. If it didn't...that's fine - they are busy and might not be able/willing to have student follow them. I thanked all of them very much, wrote them thank you cards afterward, etc. It was also really cool because I got to tell them "I GOT IN!!" and they were very pleased to be part of the process