What kind of questions did you guys ask while shadowing?

[TopTomato]

I'm shadowing a cardiologist tomorrow, and I was wondering what sorts of questions did you guys ask while shadowing? Other than the typical pre-med questions, "why'd you pick cardiology" etc.. I'm hoping i'll be able to see a procedure done in the cath lab

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Praefectus]

"Can you teach me how to dress nicely and stand quietly in the corner? I want to stop getting in your way, but I don't know how."

 

[AdrianVeidt]

Group of psychiatrists I shadowed were extremely talkative so I was answering questions more than asking, but just ask general questions about medicine including the 'why'. Ask the cardiologist about why catheters are used, ask him about signs of heart disease, etc. Nothing better than being able to stroke the ego by giving knowledge to those without it. If you plan on asking the physician you're shadowing for a LOR, you should ask him questions that will actually let you know more about him as a person in order to set a good relationship, although you definitely shouldn't do that on the first day.

But like the guy above me said, don't be annoying with too many q's.

 

[TopTomato]

I don't think I'd be considered annoying haha, I actually work in the hospital and i'm on a pretty good personal level with most of the doctors, however the one tomorrow that i'm shadowing I haven't really dealt all that much with. My experience is pretty much limited to the emergency room. But this will be my first shadowing experience with a doctor that i'm not really well known too, which is why I asked how your guys experiences were.

 

[turmoil]

I shadowed an oncologist who asked me questions about anatomy and GI function in nearly every patient exam. Made me learn about radiological scans and how to discern cancerous tissue. It wasn't really a struggle for me to find questions to ask, but I'd mostly ask questions about terms I hadn't heard before and the importance of certain questions he'd ask patients. Not as fly-on-the-wall as others have had, but my experience may not be typical

 

[Barley426]

@Turmoil,

Yes I had a similar experience with the attending nephrologist who I've been shadowing. I was really surprised when I got the impression from other premeds that their shadowing consisted of being quiet and following the doc around.

In comparison, mine teaches me like a med-student (probably nicer), he told me "just following me around won't do you much good, besides look good on paper. I will treat you like one of my students."

It's great, he explains what he's looking for in a patient's chart and what it tells him, he'll also give me the history on each patient worth mentioning, as if I was going to be working in the wards that day. During clinic one-on-one he allows me to engage the patient with simple questions and take notes, which he then compares to what he had to make sure I got important things.

Questions I ask are usually specific to patient care, but we do usually end up talking about what he recommends for specialties and what to do about advancing your career while maintaining a family and broader conversations like that.

I shadow quite often, 1-2 times per week for 3-5 hours, mostly because it's fun and I learn quite a bit. Perhaps he's so mentor-ish to me because he does research on my floor, and we collaborate on projects. Either way, I'm happy its not the stand there and shut up shadowing experiences.

 

[JFK90787]

I shadowed one guy in the OR. He took a 30 second break during the operation go let me look inside

Dr: "That is the vagus nerve"
Me: "What would happen if you touched it?"
Dr: *angry look*
Me:

 

[PingPongPro]

"hey bro, so like how much money do you make doing this?"

"what was your mcat score?"

 

[TheShaker]

I shadowed one guy in the OR. He took a 30 second break during the operation go let me look inside

Dr: "That is the vagus nerve"
Me: "What would happen if you touched it?"
Dr: *angry look*
Me:

 

[Bangersandmash]

"Can you prescribe me vicodin?" I'm usually not invited back.

But seriously, none of the physicians I've ever shadowed have just relegated me to standing in a corner and observing. I've been through ENT, neurology and oncology offices and all three doctors taught me and allowed for ample interaction with patients. For the oncologist, I was their for an entire month day to day and he even let me start taking patient vitals and rooming them.

It also takes active participation. There were times where if I hadn't asked about a patient's condition or history, like what's the differential for Hodgkin's lymphoma or what other conditions besides ____ can be caused by elevated potassium, the doctors would have never taught me what they did. You can come in with a bunch of general questions for a doctor, but in my experience, the best learning came from attentively listening and asking pertinent questions to specific patients and conditions.

 

[pfaction]

Infectious Disease: Do you want me to look up the kinetics of Vfend and see if it interacts with his medications?

Do you want me to counsel on new HIV therapy?

Rest of it was C/S and why choose a particular agent.

PCP: Do you want me to tell him about RICE and/or wrap bandages?

Is there any reason we can't push an Amox dosing regimen in a 8 year old patient?

Is Omnicef better at URTIs than say, Duricef?

my questions were a little more focused.

 

[Freesia88]

Well...you can try all of the above approaches, or you can observe quietly, speak when spoken to and ask questions when your curiousity is really piqued about something the cardiologist is doing... That's what I'd do.