First Day Shadowing

I just returned home after only 4 hours of shadowing a cardiologist who specializes in heart failure.


I am in complete euphoria. I also feel like my brain is mush. I don’t come from a medical background, I only know what I learned from my exposure while my mom was hospitalized.


Is it completely normal to feel mentally slow and unable to process everything at first? Obviously I am just beginning this journey so I don’t have extensive knowledge on medical terminology and conditions. As I think back on the patients that the Dr saw today I have a hard time remembering which conditions went with which patients and what the recommended treatment ended up being. I must need to take better notes. I think that my initial focus was understanding what was wrong with the patient, what could have caused it, and I glossed over the treatments. The dr asked me after we finished for the day if I had any questions about specific patients and my brain just would not allow it. There was so much that I had just seen that I was trying desperately to absorb when i wasn’t feverishly writing notes.


It was such a fast pace! I loved it, just wish my brain could keep up! I’m hoping this mentally sluggish feeling is just because I am new to all of this and most of it seems like a different language.

May I ask how did you find a doctor to shadow?


As for you not being able to process stuff, remember, that doctor had YEARS of education and experience. He/she has a well-trained-gone-to-med- school memory, too. I am sure, it’ll come to you, as well. Try to ask questions next time, because the doctor might think you are not very interested, and that’s not going to be good.

I found the dr because he was my Mom’s cardiologist for 10 months before she passed away so I ended up having him as connection. I reached out to him a few months after she passed and expressed my interest in pursuing medicine and he was very happy to help me out.


I did ask many questions throughout the day. I had the opportunity as he was reviewing charts away from patients to ask what things meant, why he was focusing on particular things, etc etc. He was extremely helpful in explaining things as he reviewed patient charts. He also had a first year resident with him who was very forthcoming when I asked him questions as well. All in all, it really was a wonderful experience and he’s letting me come back tomorrow. I just froze at the end of the day when he asked me if I had any specific questions about the patients. He also had just gotten off the phone with his wife and said he would be home in 15 minutes and I didn’t want to take up any more of his time since he is doing such a big favor for me.

That’s awesome. It’s perfectly normal to be dumbfounded and the best thing you can do is return and admit that. Talk about how much a priviledge and how you were completely unprepared for how much of an awesome experience it all was.


I was in medicine for almost ten years and I asked the transplant immunologist I worked with if I could watch a surgery. He told me he had one that afternoon and I was welcome to go. I went and like you I was without words. He was asking me questions during the surgery and put me at the head of the patient on a stool with the best view of the house and he called out everything he was doing so that I could keep track. I was without words at the experience and my mentor gave me the same advice I gave you. Be thankful, be grateful, and look up some questions to ask about one of the conditions you saw.

Second day of shadowing went much better. I went into the wards today with a focused mindset and was able to organize my thoughts and notes better. Still struggled a bit with getting stuck trying to understand conditions and causes but I talked to the Dr about it and he told me not to stress about it and just to relax and take everything in. I will not be shadowing him again for a while because I am still working full time and only have availability on weekends. We chatted for a while after we finished rounds for the day and he gave me some great advice and told me that he has no doubt that I will do well and that I will get into medical school.


On our way back to his office I ran into a cardiology fellow I know who ironically I had contacted several weeks ago asking about the possibility of shadowing him. He was on call until 5am tomorrow and invited me to follow him around right then and there. Unfortunately, he didn’t get any calls, but we had lunch and I picked his brain on several things for a few hours until he got nervous about getting in trouble since he’s not a staff physician. He had a somewhat pessimistically candid view on medicine and I was glad he shared it with me. Getting numerous perspectives is helpful.


I am feeling really grateful for these opportunities and even more excited about this future. I came home feeling pretty exhausted since I haven’t slept much the past 2 nights because my mind was spinning with anxiety and excitement. But after a quick nap I’m feeling really inspired and sure of myself. I want to send thank you notes to both Doctors but wondering what is most appropriate. My initial thought was a handwritten letter, but I worry it would get lost in the shuffle so maybe just a thoughtful email will suffice. I’d love your thoughts on this!

  • croooz Said:
I was without words at the experience and my mentor gave me the same advice I gave you. Be thankful, be grateful, and look up some questions to ask about one of the conditions you saw.



And thank you so much for this advice! I specifically came in earlier than our meeting time this morning and we talked for a while before we needed to make rounds and he seemed delighted to hear my reactions from yesterday's experience. He put my mind at ease and said that he has 15 years of experience and how I'm feeling is completely natural.

Handwritten card. You answered this yourself when you said “maybe JUST a thoughtful email would suffice” – you recognized that an email is not the same level. I suggest buying a box of plain cards (ie, cards with a pattern on the front but no words, no “thank you” written on them". Then you can promptly write a few lines thanking someone whom you shadow, put it in the envelope, and leave it at their office, on their desk, etc. I generally do this at the end of my rotations to my preceptor as well.


Kate

Kate,


I see often that shadowing a D.O. is almost a necessity, up there with volunteering and clinical experience. I’ve never seen info on how **much ** though. Should it really be the year I was thinking, or just a few days, or wha…??

I’m glad I went with my gut and I ended up mailing a handwritten thank you card this morning. I had some extra thank you cards from after my Mom’s funeral that I actually designed myself (since I am a graphic designer) and I had used a nature photo that my mom took with a small credit to her at the bottom. She was his patient after all, I felt that it was appropriate and thoughtful.


I just hope it gets through in the mail. He works at a very large hospital and I believe I addressed it as well as I could so it should get to him. But you never know.

A year? No, no, that’s way more than you need!


Minimum --BARE minimum might be 4 hours a day for 3-4 days. That’s if you have a medical background (like I did ) and just need to see what a D.O. is all about. But I asked to come back two more days (so did 6 total) and asked for a letter of recommendation. He said he could tell after 2 days how I would do and was comfortable writing a letter then. Enough for them to get to know you and you to get a good idea of their practice.


Having said that, not all (or even most) D.O.'s practice osteopathic manipulative medicine. You will be taught this in med school if you go to a DO school, so I think if you are able to shadow someone who does OMM (or OMT it is sometimes called) as part of their practice, I think this will give you more to talk about in your interview. That is likely to be a family practice doc or pediatrician.


Hope that helps


Kate

This post made me laugh, because I felt like a complete idiot the first time I shadowed anyone. He was pointing out differences in chest films of a patient (last year vs this year). As he went on and on, I finally just started laughing…because it all just looked like blobs to me. We had a great time at my expense, and he put me at ease immediately.


In my experience, all my doctors expected me to have questions and be interested in the process…NONE of them expected me to actually know anything. They know you aren’t a medical student. Don’t pretend…if you don’t understand, ask questions (if it is appropriate) or make a note and look it up later if it’s not.


The important thing is for you to be professional, courteous, and interested…and have fun!! These experiences allow you to see the daily minutiae of the career you are pursuing. It’s a back stage pass…take advantage of it!!

Yes - completely normal to fell like mush!


I haven’t seen anybody mention it yet, but make sure you are keeping some sort of journal of what you are seeing and how it is affecting you. These types of encounters can make powerful stories during a personal statement or experience list.


Also keep track of hours, and contact info as that is needed for your application.



  • thewayiam Said:
  • croooz Said:
I was without words at the experience and my mentor gave me the same advice I gave you. Be thankful, be grateful, and look up some questions to ask about one of the conditions you saw.



And thank you so much for this advice! I specifically came in earlier than our meeting time this morning and we talked for a while before we needed to make rounds and he seemed delighted to hear my reactions from yesterday's experience. He put my mind at ease and said that he has 15 years of experience and how I'm feeling is completely natural.



That's awesome! I've met plenty of trads and a few nontrads who just come in the next day as if the previous experience was commonplace. No questions, no impressions, pretty much seem bored and ungrateful. So keep to the wonder of the experience because the reality is that every patient will be different. While their ailment may not be different it is new to the patient and to you with this patient.

As DocGray and kate said, keep track and send cards. Handwritten cards go a long way.
  • croooz Said:
That's awesome! I've met plenty of trads and a few nontrads who just come in the next day as if the previous experience was commonplace. No questions, no impressions, pretty much seem bored and ungrateful. So keep to the wonder of the experience because the reality is that every patient will be different. While their ailment may not be different it is new to the patient and to you with this patient.

As DocGray and kate said, keep track and send cards. Handwritten cards go a long way.



I'm still riding the high of shadowing over the weekend, but finding it exceedingly difficult returning to my current career. I keep thinking back to what the Dr told me after he asked me what my plans were with post-bacc, etc. I told him that I'm taking the next year to continue working full time while taking night classes and then transition to full time after that. He told me that it's going to be difficult to have one foot in and one foot out and it might cause me to half ass it. He suggested if I'm serious to dive in and attack aggressively. Ideally that is what I want to do, I just worry about the financial aspect of it.


  • thewayiam Said:
  • croooz Said:
That's awesome! I've met plenty of trads and a few nontrads who just come in the next day as if the previous experience was commonplace. No questions, no impressions, pretty much seem bored and ungrateful. So keep to the wonder of the experience because the reality is that every patient will be different. While their ailment may not be different it is new to the patient and to you with this patient.

As DocGray and kate said, keep track and send cards. Handwritten cards go a long way.



I'm still riding the high of shadowing over the weekend, but finding it exceedingly difficult returning to my current career. I keep thinking back to what the Dr told me after he asked me what my plans were with post-bacc, etc. I told him that I'm taking the next year to continue working full time while taking night classes and then transition to full time after that. He told me that it's going to be difficult to have one foot in and one foot out and it might cause me to half ass it. He suggested if I'm serious to dive in and attack aggressively. Ideally that is what I want to do, I just worry about the financial aspect of it.



I worried as well and after 13 years of worry am still in the premed stage. Knowing what I know now, your doc is right, find a way, and get it done now. Took me getting fired to wake the frak up and it's the best thing that could've happened to me. Next year this time I will have applied to med school and will be studying for the MCAT. Just get this stupid stuff done and out of the way so you can be doing what it is you are supposed to do.

I have to work full time this year as well while planning to take 12 credits this fall and 8 credits in spring. Feeling bad already telling my manager not to schedule me on certain days cause of school. Do not want to have a work schedule conflict but at the same time I have to take these classes. Oh, boy.Will see where I end up at the end of the year might not be at work