Doctor Shadowing

[MeGusta]

So I've been looking around for a doctor to shadow, and couldn't find any doctors that openly volunteer to let students shadow them. I don't have any family/friends that are physicians and my family doctor is unapproachable to say the least.
so my question is how would one find a doctor to shadow?
Also, what does shadowing entail, do you follow them around quietly watching them talk to the patient from the back of the room? (sounds really awkward)

Putting the awkwardness factor aside, I think it'd be a great chance to see what a doctor does in a normal day and maybe learn a thing or two about medicine.

[mattg]

what have you done so far to find a doctor? how many have you contacted?

as an undergrad, you likely won't be saying much in the exam room unless they ask you a question or something... also the patients will often talk to you... it's not really awkward at all... as per what shadowing entails - it completely depends on the doctor (and hospital, to some degree)... it can range from more or less just talking to them and other doctors in between them seeing patients, to following them around and being in the room while they see patients, to them letting you do parts of the exam or history (provided they teach you what to do)... in my experience the latter two are more common

[KennethToronto]

Don't beat yourself over the fact you can't set something like this up.

It's not that helpful for you - trust me, been there, done that.

Also, now that I'm seeing it from the over side, I honestly wouldn't want someone not even remotely involved in patient care there, as you put it succinctly, awkwardly watching in the corner of the room, regardless of whether or not the doc "asks".

[mattg]

Originally Posted by KennethToronto

Also, now that I'm seeing it from the over side, I honestly wouldn't want someone not even remotely involved in patient care there, as you put it succinctly, awkwardly watching in the corner of the room, regardless of whether or not the doc "asks".

you mean you wouldn't want someone watching as a patient? or as the doctor?

some doctors don't mind having undergrads shadow them, and enjoy giving them the experiences / teaching them a couple of things

[mattg]

i agree though that it's not that helpful as an undergrad to shadow a doctor for a day (and you can't really put single-day shadows on your resume/app)... HOWEVER, if you can find a doctor to take you on as somewhat of a 'protogee', so to speak (probably somewhat rare as an undergrad... more common as a med student), and they let you shadow them weekly for the summer or something, this can be very rewarding... because doing it long term, with the same doctor, you'll learn a lot and it is a good experience... plus it's a great reference letter... i had this as an undergrad, but it's probably hard to find a doc like this

[bored]

regardless of its usefulness or not.. it still is a good thing to have on the resume no? just shows some sort of eagerness to learn

I volunteer at a hospital... and It seems very weird asking a doctor about anything because they seem so busy. It takes 3 calls to finally reach the doc and get him to come down from my department.

Are the docs that busy? say you want some clinical research experience, do we just ask a doctor that is doing some research already by email or in person?

[mattg]

either - if you know him/her, ask them in person... if you don't, email them

as an undergrad doing volunteer research with a doctor though, the most you can expect to do is be inputting data, pretty much

[mattg]

Originally Posted by bored

regardless of its usefulness or not.. it still is a good thing to have on the resume no? just shows some sort of eagerness to learn

i assume by resume, you mean med school app (i.e. autobio sketch)... i personally wouldn't put it down unless is was long term shadowing with a single doctor... or maybe if you have a lot of single-day shadowing experiences, I would put it in one slot as "shadowed various doctors" or something... in my opinion, if you start taking up multiple slots with extremely minor, one day shadows, it will just take away from everything else

[Cerena]

Originally Posted by mattg

i agree though that it's not that helpful as an undergrad to shadow a doctor for a day (and you can't really put single-day shadows on your resume/app)... HOWEVER, if you can find a doctor to take you on as somewhat of a 'protogee', so to speak (probably somewhat rare as an undergrad... more common as a med student), and they let you shadow them weekly for the summer or something, this can be very rewarding... because doing it long term, with the same doctor, you'll learn a lot and it is a good experience... plus it's a great reference letter... i had this as an undergrad, but it's probably hard to find a doc like this

+1 I'm an undergrad and was lucky enough to find a research job. I work for a physician, and her office is right beside mine (way more decked out than the one I'm in, she's a physician after all ). As long as she isn't too busy, I can shadow her, go to her presentations, I may even go to a seminar to present our abstract. It's really wonderful experience. And also, we have publications that are so to be published for this project (I'm second author - yay ) and starting this summer, she's asked me to help her with a second project. What more could you ask for? I also get to see what she does and see what kind of patients she takes.

So what I am trying to say is that the right clinical experience can open doors like crazy. And, if you are paired with the right doctor, you can develop a long lasting relationship with them that can benefit you much more than just writing a couple of sentences about how you shadowed a doctor for a day. You just need to put yourself out there. Don't be afraid to call a physician, email them, whatever. I was so intimidated at first, I thought "yeah right, why would any doctor ever want me to work for them? I'm just an undergrad." But, if you are serious about medicine and can get through to the physician you want to work for/shadow/volunteer, then great things can happen. Best of luck! And if you need any more help, just PM me kiara and I'll do my best to answer any more questions you have, or even help you find a doctor in your area that you may want to contact. I definitely think you are on the right track, that you're ambitious, and great things are in your future Finding the right sort of clinical experience may not happen over night, but the point is that you're trying your best and are getting closer to your goal each day.

[thehumanmacbook]

OHhhhhh Cerena you're so awesome

I wish you were here in Hamilton to do the same for me