As of right now, I've just finished shadowing an orthodontist and a pharmacist and am now beginning to shadow an internal medicine doctor. The past two shadowing experiences were really fun and the environment was really great to be in, however, in this doctor's clinic its almost the exact opposite. So right now, I'm going to shadow the doctor's once a week for about 4 hours but within those four hours I'm literally just sitting around in the patient room doing absolutely nothing. I would always go up to the secretary to ask if there was anything needed to be done and rarely, she would let me measure the weight, the height, take blood sugar tests, and giving the cup for urine samples...
So today, I sat in the patient room for almost 3 1/2 hours to literally do 30 minutes of volunteering because she didn't want me to do anything else. I asked if she needed help but she didn't give me any work to do. So at one point, she asked if I wanted to shadow the doctor and of course I said yes. So she brings me into the patient room where the doctor is working and lets me watch. After about 30 seconds of "watching", the doctor tells me to come into his office for a talk. He says that he doesn't like my "attitude" for barging into the patient's visit even though I was brought in by his own nurse/secretary and I even asked her "is it okay for me to go in" to which she said yes. The doctor went even further by saying that I don't dress like a med student which I'm not, but I always try to dress professional by wearing nice khakis, a dress shirt, and dress shoes and said I should fix that. Last, he said that I had go home because I didn't bring a notebook to take notes on shadowing the nurse. Now, here I am asking whether or not I should continue volunteering here since its only been 2 days and he seems like he hates my guts. He said "I assure you will not go into medical school, unless you change no matter how good your grades are." I'm dressing the best I can other than wearing a suit and tie everyday to the office when the other volunteers just wear jeans and a t shirt and I really have no idea what the hell I'm suppose to do with taking notes when all I get to do out in the waiting room is measure someone's weight, height, take blood sugar with one of those easy read machines, and giving the cup to the patient to do the urine sample. He went on to say that I should be answering the phone and registering new patients but since the office mostly serves Korean people, and I don't know Korean... I can't even understand what they're saying or respond in a manner that would be understandable let alone polite. I feel as though maybe I should just attempt to find another volunteer position but its pretty late into the summer now or probably just sit in the office for 4 hours a day scribbling pictures into a notebook because there's nothing to write down. Really would like some advice because I'm at a crossroad to which health care profession I want to pursue and I don't want to deter my interest in medicine if this is not the norm. Sorry for the rant and hope you can help!
So today, I sat in the patient room for almost 3 1/2 hours to literally do 30 minutes of volunteering because she didn't want me to do anything else. I asked if she needed help but she didn't give me any work to do. So at one point, she asked if I wanted to shadow the doctor and of course I said yes. So she brings me into the patient room where the doctor is working and lets me watch. After about 30 seconds of "watching", the doctor tells me to come into his office for a talk. He says that he doesn't like my "attitude" for barging into the patient's visit even though I was brought in by his own nurse/secretary and I even asked her "is it okay for me to go in" to which she said yes. The doctor went even further by saying that I don't dress like a med student which I'm not, but I always try to dress professional by wearing nice khakis, a dress shirt, and dress shoes and said I should fix that. Last, he said that I had go home because I didn't bring a notebook to take notes on shadowing the nurse. Now, here I am asking whether or not I should continue volunteering here since its only been 2 days and he seems like he hates my guts. He said "I assure you will not go into medical school, unless you change no matter how good your grades are." I'm dressing the best I can other than wearing a suit and tie everyday to the office when the other volunteers just wear jeans and a t shirt and I really have no idea what the hell I'm suppose to do with taking notes when all I get to do out in the waiting room is measure someone's weight, height, take blood sugar with one of those easy read machines, and giving the cup to the patient to do the urine sample. He went on to say that I should be answering the phone and registering new patients but since the office mostly serves Korean people, and I don't know Korean... I can't even understand what they're saying or respond in a manner that would be understandable let alone polite. I feel as though maybe I should just attempt to find another volunteer position but its pretty late into the summer now or probably just sit in the office for 4 hours a day scribbling pictures into a notebook because there's nothing to write down. Really would like some advice because I'm at a crossroad to which health care profession I want to pursue and I don't want to deter my interest in medicine if this is not the norm. Sorry for the rant and hope you can help!
