what should i do when i shadow a doctor?

[im_newbie]

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hello, i am a premed student and i am going to apply to some medical schools this year. i dont know any doctors who i can get recommendation letters from so i called up some doctors from the directory and found a doctor to shadow. i was going to shadow him for 2 days then ask him for a recommedation letter. i dont want to shadow him for more than a couple of days because i dont want to bother him. i have shadowed doctors in the past and i noticed that it wasnt a good idea to shadow them for more than 1 or 2 days. i learned the most during the first few days and later on everything they did seemed routine and the same.

But i still dont know what i am exactly supposed to do when i shadow a doctor. i usually shadow them 5 hours a day for 2 days. During that time i just stand next to them the whole time and watch them fill out paper work. or when they are with a patient i just watch them talk inside the room and dont interact with the patients. am i supposed to interact with the patient? i also dont have many questions to ask the doctor. i ask about 3 or 4 small questions every 10 minutes. i felt that if i start asking too many questions i would distract them from their work or i might ask some stupid questions that i should already know as a premed student. i dont know how i can help out in the office either because they have atleast 2 or 3 nurses around them all the time. i saw a 1st year med student shadowing another doctor in the same office today. he was asking more detalied questions and trying to diagnose the patients health. he was interacting with the doctor more and going over some medical textbooks at the same time, while i was just standing next to my doctor doing nothing. what do you guys do when you shadow a doctor?

thanks

 

[DemonDeacon]

I remember seeing a thead about this earlier...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=121637

 

[pbehzad]

I remember seeing a thead about this earlier...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=121637

The resident I shadow is a pretty cool guy. We talk more about sports and politics than about medicine. Though he does try to quiz me or try to teach me medical terms which is pointless cause I'll forget by the time i leave the hospital.
I think if you talk about non-medical things then that'll open up more conversation. I think 5 hours is kind of a long time to shadow too, I usually do it for like 2 hours (and even then its boring and the doctor knows it too) a couple times a month.

 

[principessa]

Try to find a doctor who really likes teaching. When I shadowed my internist she always told me things about the patients before we went in the room, introduced me to the patient, and made sure I could see what she was doing. Whenever she wanted to talk to someone by herself or when she had a lot of paperwork to do, she would send me into an exam room to chat with a patient who was waiting. You probably won't learn much about medical science by shadowing, so focus on learning what a doctor's life is like. I mostly asked about her schedule, her favorite things about medicine, her pet peeves. Also pay attention to the doctor's interaction with the patients - do they respond well to him/her? What is he/she doing to make them comfortable?

You might not want to get a letter from someone who's only known you for two days. It would be much better to have one from someone who knows you really well but is not in medicine than a physician who knows very little about you. I had five LORs, all from non-medical professors, and one of my interviewers said they were some of the best he had ever read.

 

[funkless]

Before you do anything, BUY A BOOK OF STAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't stress it enough: BUY A BOOK OF STAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, long post ahead, but I think it'll help; I shadowed a LOT.

A recommendation is MUCH more persuasive coming from a doctor with whom you have a long-term relationship. And I wouldn't be afraid of asking to shadow for more than two days. Personally, every single doctor--every single one--that I've approached for shadowing was really thrilled to show a prospective student around, especially if you get the impression that they haven't had a shadow in awhile. (I shadowed one clinic for six months and the doctors were literally pulling me out of each others' rooms to show me stuff. When I left, they bought me an awesome wedding present and paid for my lunch.)

In other words, find a cool place with cool people and become a pleasant fixture.

The most important things when shadowing are:

1. Listen and watch carefully, even if you forget everything you witness. Don't bother taking notes; devote every ounce you've got to being a good observer. At the same time, since you have no skills to contribute yet, bear in mind that your contribution should be a gracious, eager attitude.

But don't just talk to your doc; chat up the nurses and patients. Everyone in a hospital/clinic/etc plays a certain role; if you can acknowledge every single person's role, and point it out to them, you'll be taken under a dozen wings faster than you can imagine. Plus, you'd be shocked at how good it feels.

2. Be polite and outgoing with EVERYONE you meet, from MDs to LPNs to MS-IIIs to Gomero Grandes. Hold a door, fill a glass, adjust a shade, wipe a nose and you're doing it right.

3. If you do something dumb or impolite, apologize and rectify as best you can.

4. a) Don't overapologize.
b) Don't talk too much.
c) Don't be a wallflower.
d) Don't contaminate ANYTHING.
e) Any name you hear, repeat it three times to yourself.
f) WRITE A THANK YOU NOTE BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN. Remember that book of stamps?
g) If you did all of the above and had a miserable time, consider an MBA.

Have fun,

--Funkless