What do you want out of a shadowing experience?

[gutonc]

It's been more years than most of you have been alive since I had to shadow as a pre-med, and I got away with extremely minimal shadowing at that. Now, I've been asked by a couple of pre-meds to shadow me and I've agreed. I have a reasonable idea what a med student or resident wants to get out of their experience in my clinic, but absolutely no idea what a pre-med would find useful or educational in a shadowing experience.

So...if you could design a shadowing experience for yourself, what would it be?

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[ciestar]

Personally, I love when the physician would allow me to get involved in someway, even just a brief conversation with the patient made it more interesting.

What I also appreciated was the doctor explaining what he was doing with a patient (like a retinal scan and what exactly I was looking at on the scan) and explaining to me procedure and conditions.

 

[EyesOfTheWorld]

I currently am shadowing an awesome physician who I think is excellent and offering a good shadowing experience. There are a few reasons why I think she's so awesome. One of which is that she lets me ask a lot of questions, and gives me lengthy answers that consider multiple perspectives that I might be interested in. She also prints me off extra information about subjects I've shown interest in - studies, prescription information, disease information, etc. We then discuss what I've read at our next meeting. She lets me sit in on meetings and she even set me up with some of her colleagues to shadow.

The one added bonus that I think would make a shadowing experience excellent would be to be able to help out somehow. I wouldn't care what it was, but I'd love to be able to feel useful while shadowing.

As a pre-med I appreciate you caring about what the student will get out of it.

 

[gutonc]

The one added bonus that I think would make a shadowing experience excellent would be to be able to help out somehow. I wouldn't care what it was, but I'd love to be able to feel useful while shadowing.

Unfortunately, for liability reasons this isn't possible in most cases. I could put this guy through the appropriate process to get the option to be more clinically involved but it takes 90 days and requires a federal background check. It's just easier on everybody to not do it. But I get why you'd want to.

As a pre-med I appreciate you caring about what the student will get out of it.

The thing is, shadowing, mentoring and having med students in my clinic is a lot of work on my part and slows me down dramatically. If I'm going to do it, you're going to get something out of it, otherwise why would I bother?

 

[kyamh]

I really appreciated when, after morning shadowing or before afternoon shadowing, the physician would grab lunch with me. It gave me an opportunity to chat with them about medicine, their specialty, what they like, what they don't like, what their experiences have been balancing work/family/research/travel/whatever they do, what their opinion on extra degrees is (should I do a PhD or MPH), etc.

I never did anything hands on or spoke with patients, I don't think that's necessary for shadowing (though cool if you get a chance to touch something, always remember that pre-meds will think just about anything is cool, regardless of how boring it may be to you).

Sometimes before we would enter a room, a physician I was shadowing would stop and give me a brief explanation about what I could/should pay attention to if there is something in the room to see/hear/smell. One time, after seeing a patient, the physician told me that this was a repeat hospital visitor who never followed through on taking their drugs etc and we had a conversation about how medicals staff deal with these types of patients and some of the ethical questions involved. One time, a physician took me to a room where I could see an interesting heart echo showing a defect that would require surgery and pointed out the parts of the heart on the echo (I could not orient myself without help!).

I see shadowing as a way for students to get exposed to the annoying/frustrating/boring parts of medicine - there is no other way to get this experience before committing to applying. A student should come away with an understanding about exactly what you do day to day so they can start to think about whether they may want to be in your shoes in the future.

 

[nemo123]

I actually liked doing the hands on stuff that the doctors let me do sometimes. I shadowed an ophthalmologist, and she actually took the time to teach me how to look for the retina in a patient's eye (although I was very bad at it 😀). I also shadowed an OB/GYN, and she taught me how to use the ultrasound machine.

One of the doctors that I shadowed took the time to tell me a couple things about each patient we were about to see. He also made sure to tell me some precautionary things so that I wouldn't go into the room and be caught off guard (i.e. We once saw a patient whose arm was amputated, and he told me about it beforehand just in case.)

 

[el_duderino]

Really, though, just the experience of seeing what a physician actually does while he's working.

 

[Keladry]

I really appreciated when a physician took the time to give me some advice about actually practicing medicine, apart from all the actual clinical knowledge. One doctor I shadowed showed me the place in the chart where he always made sure to make a note of something going on in the patient's life (a golf tournament, a difficult class, a favorite TV show) so that he would remember to ask them about it the next time. It was just a little thing, but it was really valuable to me. I have medical school to learn all the clinical knowledge; I'd rather learn the non-classroom stuff from a doctor while I have the chance.

 

[Leslie_Knope]

My best shadowing experiences were with physicians that took the time to talk with me before, between, and after patients. Before we would talk about career paths, pitfalls, advice, and so on. Also a preview of what the patient population is like, challenges, and who we are seeing today. Between patients we recap on why things went the way they did and what's happening next. Afterwards we talked about my questions and more career advice. Really just talk to the student.

My worst experience was with a physician who kept asking me if I wanted to come back later because what she was doing was boring (her words). I asked her questions and got one word or one sentence answers. No conversation at all.

 

[Goro]

My young colleague is spot on. What I hope my applicants get from you is what a doctor's day is like.



Really, though, just the experience of seeing what a physician actually does while he's working.[/QUOTE]

 

[RedPhys]

My best shadowing experiences were with physicians that took the time to talk with me before, between, and after patients. Before we would talk about career paths, pitfalls, advice, and so on. Also a preview of what the patient population is like, challenges, and who we are seeing today. Between patients we recap on why things went the way they did and what's happening next. Afterwards we talked about my questions and more career advice. Really just talk to the student.

This is what I've been trying to get out of my shadowing experiences.

 

[gutonc]

.

You've got it backwards here. You're the one who's supposed to be wandering in with piles of cash to drop on our desks.

 

[el_duderino]

You've got it backwards here. You're the one who's supposed to be wandering in with piles of cash to drop on our desks.

The first time I shadowed a physician, my entire bank account was worth significantly less than the bike hanging off the back of his Jaguar.

 

[amad01]

The best physician I shadowed was a fam med doc and simply cared that I was there. When he was consulting with patients he was explaining to both the patient and I about xyz keeping me involved... He introduced me to every patient and included where I go to school, what I'm studying, even the type of research I'm involved in haha which I thought was a little too much, but made me feel important. patients even seemed excited to meet me. He would talk to me before and after visits about the patient and things that have helped him deal with such situations it was really great. While performing procedures he talked to me and showed me what/why he was doing things, even during a circumcision!

On the other hand, I shadowed a dermatologist who thought he was God's gift to humanity and literally ignored me the entire day. He asked me my major and where I go to school before the day started and not a word after. It was terribly awkward and instead of asking me to stay outside of a room for certain procedures, he just closed the door in my face and so I just chatted with his PA for about 45 minutes while he went in his office. he didn't invite me into his office i just stood awkwardly outside wondering WTF I should do... terrible experience with the doc, although didn't sway my interest in dermatology because I was really interested in everything he was doing.

 

[jared_the_great]

I appreciated it when the doc explained things without trying to dumb it down or using non-medical terminology. A lot of it went over my head at first, but I was able to Google a few things at home and then come back with (I felt) a much better understanding and appreciation.

Personally, I love when the physician would allow me to get involved in someway

Same here. I know policies don't allow much, but even "Would you close that door/ go get the nurse/ hand me that clipboard/ move that light closer" made me feel a bit less awkward about standing there the whole time like a piece of furniture.

 

[jared_the_great]

It also was nice when the doc's expectations were clear. Did they want me following them into the doctors' lounge or should I wait outside? What about their office? When they announced lunch break , did they expect me to follow and eat with them, or go find my own spot to eat my sack lunch? Is it okay to sit here, or is it someone's designated seat? During a pelvic exam, should I wait outside the room, stand near the head of the bed, or put on a pair of gloves and grab another speculum?

 

[mehc012]

It also was nice when the doc's expectations were clear. Did they want me following them into the doctors' lounge or should I wait outside? What about their office? When they announced lunch break , did they expect me to follow and eat with them, or go find my own spot to eat my sack lunch? Is it okay to sit here, or is it someone's designated seat? During a pelvic exam, should I wait outside the room, stand near the head of the bed, or put on a pair of gloves and grab another speculum?

My brain is breaking when it attempts to imagine what on earth you would be doing to require TWO speculums at the same time.
I've only ever shadowed in the OR (other than my scribing, which is a completely different setup logistics/liability wise), so I don't have much to add, sorry.

 

[el_duderino]

2 girls one speculum. Wait what?

 

[Zelda840]

It's been more years than most of you have been alive since I had to shadow as a pre-med, and I got away with extremely minimal shadowing at that. Now, I've been asked by a couple of pre-meds to shadow me and I've agreed. I have a reasonable idea what a med student or resident wants to get out of their experience in my clinic, but absolutely no idea what a pre-med would find useful or educational in a shadowing experience.

So...if you could design a shadowing experience for yourself, what would it be?

First of all, thank you for being willing to help out. For people who don't have family members in medicine, it can be tricky to find shadowing opportunities.

My best experience was shadowing a primary care doc in a rural clinic and what I really got from it was seeing how great his relationships with the patients were. He knew everyone and their families and their whole life story it seemed. Very cool.

If someone is personable, shows up on time looking professional, succeeds in staying out of your way, and asks intelligent questions, you could also offer a LOR and be their hero. 🙂