What are ways to gain osteopathic experience without shadowing?

[September24]

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Hey guys. Sorry if this has been asked before. I used the search function but was not successful in finding an answer.

I shadowed a DO for around 2 months and got a letter of recommendation. It was really fun and I thought that I would be able to shadow all summer. However, she recently took on another shadow, which I understand since shadowing is usually temporary and most students dont shadow for too long. Its not like volunteering where you just stay for as long as you like.

I still want to get more experience. Are there ways to gain osteopathic experience without shadowing someone?

 

[Gandyy]

If you were a patient and OMM was used on you by your Osteopathic Physician, that's one way.

 

[puppyofthesea]

I'm a scribe and shadow a DO every day.

 

[futuredoc331]

Become a scribe. You get paid and are involved with the entire physician-patient encounter. You are able to learn a great deal about a doctor's decision making because your job is to document all of it.

If you're in the ER you'll have to pick a their brains a little bit though because there isn't much time for OMM.

 

[CajunMedic]

If you haven't already, contact your state Osteopathic Medical Association. You might be invited to attend one of their CME conferences for a reduced or no fee and sit through some OMM lectures. That's what I wound up doing when I couldn't find anyone to shadow. It gave me something to talk about in my interview and some networking opportunities with faculty and administration.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

I second the scribe comment. I worked for a little over a year as a scribe in the ER and it's easily one of the most enriching, non-patient contact jobs a pre-med can get. The turnover rate is rather high so it's not exceptionally difficult to land a job. On top of getting to work with both residents and attendings (if you're in a diverse department, you'll have both DOs and MDs), you pick up an incredibly useful skill. Writing the notes, paying attention to the presentations and eventually getting to the point where you can document an entire encounter without having to bring a pen and paper will definitely raise some eyebrows for you later on.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I find it really hard to actually land a scribe job in my area though...I've filled out apps to ScribeAmerica but never heard anything back.

Is there another way that I can apply to scribe jobs? Different companies maybe?

 

[Gandyy]

To the scribes, I was not expecting to memorize this much material for this job, but obviously I'm going to do it anyway. I"m currently in scribe training.