When I wanted to shadow a neurosurgeon, I called up UCSF's dept of neurosurgery and they said unless I'm a UCSF med student, then it is absolutely out of the question.
I then went on all these UCSF websites and decided to try and get a volunteer job as a researcher instead. I emailed about 75-100 people (including residents, attendings, lab assistants and lab directors). I got about 10 replies, most of them courtesy rejections and 3 interviews. I was offered two jobs and I took the one with the neurosurgeon. Not only did I get a publication out of this, but I also got to shadow an attending neurosurgeon during clinics, rounds, conferences and cases (in the OR). It was an amazing opportunity that was literally dropped into my laps.
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