Volunteer work at D.O. office

[Challenge]

Anybody know why the heck those D.O. offices don't even accept voluteers to have shadowing experience for me? I called 3 of D.O. offices and asked politely if I can get volunteer work there but every single office didn't need any help. Also, I even sent my resume and cover letters to the other 2 D.O. offices and never called me back though once they told me they might need some volunteers. I've been waiting for over couple of months..
What if I never get a chance to have shadowing D.O.? I really want to do it for my interest and get to know with D.O.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[UHS03]

Youmay be getting misunderstood. Don't ask if they want volunteers, most private doc offices don't need this. You are doing this because (and this is what you say on the phone) "you are a pre medical student who is very interested in osteopathic medicine. You would really appreciate the opportunity to spend a day or two shadowing Dr. X so that you can learn more about the osteopathic medical profession." You are asking them to help you, not the other way around. Most DO's are more than happy to help a pre-med learn about osteopathic medicine. Find a FP or IM doc to shadow, in my experience these docs provided me with the most worthwhile shadowing experiences. Hope this helps.

 

[doublelle]

I work in an osteopathic hospital/osteopathic school...The DO's CONSTANTLY have residents, interns, or students on their rotations following them, so I was a little shy about asking myself because I didn't know if they had time for me. What I did was find where all the interns, externs, and residents are working for the month (that's how it is here) and I looked for doctors that had weeks without anyone. I explained what was going on and about applying to medical school and now am doing shadowing with a physician on the admissions board! The osteopathic practice is supposed to be one of committment to continued osteopathic learning..so...you may have to remind a few people of this. For example, I was once asked to leave the emergency room (and I work there) and I simply said "isn't this a teaching hospital?" and the ER doc let me stay after the nurse asked me to leave. So, you will find different people with different attitudes, but those that I have encountered have been very good. Best wishes!

 

[doublelle]

oops..left out an important part above! If you are at a med school/hospital facility, there should be a paper posted telling what student, resident, intern, etc is with which doctor. Its usually on a bulletin board somewhere. If, by some chance, you are located in Northeast Missouri...I could probably tell you exactly where to find that little piece of paper!

 

[Andrew]

I suggest that you write an informal letter to the DO, stating your interest in the profession and intentions (what you hope to get out of shadowing/volunteering). Good luck!