shadowing- how to go about it

[BornToLead]

So far what I have done is:
- Call up the doctor's office, inform the receptionist that I am a pre-med student looking to shadow Dr. X and if she can give me the fax number, I can send in my resume along with a cover letter; and that she can hand it in to the Doctor.

I have faxed a couple of resumes to different clinics, but the receptionist often ends up giving the letter to the clinic supervisor and when I call them back, she is like oh yeah we will let you know soon

So far I have had no luck going through this channel. What other ways will you guys recommend. Will going to the clinic personally and giving them my resume myself help give me a positive? But even then, the resume will prolly end up with the clinic supervisor.

Please let me know other ways you have employed to glean shadowing opportunities. PS: I have no doctor contacts and Pre-med club is not an option since they charge students for it at my uni

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[Cmdr_Shepard]

Here is what you do:

1. Wait outside the clinic until closing.
2. Follow the doctor home.
3. Confront him or her outside their house and explain that you are a pre-med and admissions is very competitive.
4. ???
5. Shadow him or her.

 

[Catalystik]

Have you asked your personal physician, or those of your parents, or physician parents of friends? Maybe you can set something up for spring break , if you plan to go home. Long hours over a short period of time is acceptable for this particular EC, so finding a gig you can do weekly for the semester isn't obligatory.

 

[BornToLead]

Here is what you do:
2. Follow the doctor home.

Jeez man I don't want to come across as a neurotic pre-med.

But waiting outside the clinic until closing time sounds a good idea...I can get to talk to the doc personally without a third party interference

 

[68quebec]

Jeez man I don't want to come across as a neurotic pre-med.

But waiting outside the clinic until closing time sounds a good idea...I can get to talk to the doc personally without a third party interference

I highly don't recommend this idea. Usually the most tiredest moment that they will have is when they are leaving the office.

 

[Cmdr_Shepard]

Jeez man I don't want to come across as a neurotic pre-med.

But waiting outside the clinic until closing time sounds a good idea...I can get to talk to the doc personally without a third party interference

Well...I was definitely kidding in my post.

But if you think you could come across as "accidentally" running in to the doc after closing, then I dunno, could work.

 

[Cinclus]

Any docs who happen to be family friends? And pre-med friends who have docs they shadow? I was able to get some shadowing in with two docs my dad knew through work, and I was able to shadow two dermatologists who worked in a multi-physician derm practice by calling them. I also was invited to shadow a family practice doc after calling his office, but I called A LOT of places before I got some docs that said yes.

 

[sweetamazement]

I never even really sent my resume. Just email the doctor, not the receptionist, and say that you are a pre med student and would like to shadow. Make the letter nice (address the doc as dr, sign with sincerely) but don't make it more than 5-6 sentences. Doctors are pretty busy, so keep it short and to the point while speaking professionally. I dont think doctors or receptionists have time to look at your resume.

 

[Laurenxxxx]

Check hospitals around your area, specifically the volunteer services page on their website. A few hospitals where I live have separate applications for shadowing, and you can choose what specialty you want. It's usually only a one day or one week deal, but it's a start. If you can't find any information online, call volunteer services and ask if they have a program or even allow shadowing at the hospital. Sometimes they make you find the physician yourself, in which you would just have to send out some emails. In that case, what's the worst that could happen? The doc says "sorry I don't allow that" and you move on with your life.

 

[riced]

Check hospitals around your area, specifically the volunteer services page on their website. A few hospitals where I live have separate applications for shadowing, and you can choose what specialty you want. It's usually only a one day or one week deal, but it's a start. If you can't find any information online, call volunteer services and ask if they have a program or even allow shadowing at the hospital. Sometimes they make you find the physician yourself, in which you would just have to send out some emails. In that case, what's the worst that could happen? The doc says "sorry I don't allow that" and you move on with your life.

I highly recommend NOT doing this.. Most hospitals have some ridiculous policy when it comes to shadowing physicians and quite honestly don't care about helping you. Volunteer services will get you nowhere (besides a volunteer position) so don't even try. Chances are they will just say you should talk to 'so and so at human resources..."

What I would do is find a physician who owns his/her own private practice. This gives you so much more freedom as everything is the physicians call. However, this may limit who you shadow because I don't know if all types of physicians have private practices. I was able to find two surgeons that own a private practice and I love shadowing them both. Best of luck and let us know how things go.

 

[Laurenxxxx]

I highly recommend NOT doing this.. Most hospitals have some ridiculous policy when it comes to shadowing physicians and quite honestly don't care about helping you. Volunteer services will get you nowhere (besides a volunteer position) so don't even try. Chances are they will just say you should talk to 'so and so at human resources..."

What I would do is find a physician who owns his/her own private practice. This gives you so much more freedom as everything is the physicians call. However, this may limit who you shadow because I don't know if all types of physicians have private practices. I was able to find two surgeons that own a private practice and I love shadowing them both. Best of luck and let us know how things go.

I've gone through volunteer services for shadowing with two different hospitals and had no problem at all. I guess everywhere is different though!

 

[FutureMD129]

I live in DC, where there are lots of buildings with medical offices. What has worked for me is going to medical offices and introducing myself as a premed student who is interested in shadowing doctors. In most cases, I give the staff my business card and say that I will follow up in two weeks if I don't hear from them. I've found in person contact works best as there's no excuse for the doctors or staff to delete or misplace emails, phone messages, or letters. I even keep a log of the different practices with the dates and times of my visits, so if I do follow up, I can say that I went to X practice/doctor on this day or time. Sure, I've encountered staff who act as "gatekeepers" to doctors and say I can't shadow. For the most part, I've been pleasantly surprised with how nice and accommodating many receptionists and office managers have been to my request. On Wednesday, I'm shadowing a cardiologist with whom I made contact with simply by walking in and telling the receptionist I wanted to shadow a doctor. Hopefully I have more success in the future!

 

[jqueb29]

I live in DC, where there are lots of buildings with medical offices. What has worked for me is going to medical offices and introducing myself as a premed student who is interested in shadowing doctors. In most cases, I give the staff my business card and say that I will follow up in two weeks if I don't hear from them. I've found in person contact works best as there's no excuse for the doctors or staff to delete or misplace emails, phone messages, or letters. I even keep a log of the different practices with the dates and times of my visits, so if I do follow up, I can say that I went to X practice/doctor on this day or time. Sure, I've encountered staff who act as "gatekeepers" to doctors and say I can't shadow. For the most part, I've been pleasantly surprised with how nice and accommodating many receptionists and office managers have been to my request. On Wednesday, I'm shadowing a cardiologist with whom I made contact with simply by walking in and telling the receptionist I wanted to shadow a doctor. Hopefully I have more success in the future!

I think a good rule of thumb would be to make sure a post isn't a year old before replying to it.

 

[GoPens]

I think a good rule of thumb would be to make sure a post isn't a year old before replying to it.

Not necessarily. Since this is a common question, others (myself included) can still benefit from replies even though OP likely has since found an answer.