I have a lot about shadowing doctors as good for getting into med school. My favorite doctor is retiring at the end of the year I was thinking I could ask him now if I could shadow him before then. I just wanted to know how much shadowing do i need to get in. How long for shadowing is acceptable for applying to med school? My doc is an ob/gyn, which is what I want to be and he has his own office. Do I shadow him in his office or at the hospital? I guess I need a little insight on shadowing as well. thanks!!
You shadow him wherever you both agree works for you. I shadowed an internist solely in his hospitalist practice (seeing his own and other physicians’ hospitalized patients) because that worked with his work schedule. I also shadowed an ER doc in the ER. I had probably well UNDER 100 hours shadowing altogether, just enough to get a taste of the practice without making the doctors crazy.
Not only is it good, it can be crucial if you don’t have significant clinical experience that includes seeing what doctors do. Medical schools want to see that you understand what the career is about. Despite my pretty substantial clinical experience, I was asked at every single interview about whether or not I had done any shadowing. (It may be a standard interview question).
That being said, it has become tougher and tougher to do shadowing. Due to HIPAA regulations, many pracitioners are unwilling to let a non-healthcare person shadow them as they either feel it violates privacy concerns or because they don’t want to take the extra time to provide HIPAA training. If you have a doc you are familiar with who is willing to take you on, you’ve overcome that hurdle. Explain to him what you hope to accomplish (which is to get a feeling for what a doctors job is really like and the challenges physicians face). If he says yes, ask him what would work best for him.
Good luck!
Amy
wow! thanks for the input. Here’s another question on shadowing: the summer of my senior year in high school, almost ten years ago, i was in a program that was given by LSU medical school. in the program, we (me and other students) got to work in the hospital on the floor of the speciality of the kind of doctor we wanted to be. for instance, i worked in Labor and Delivery. we were paid to work 8-5pm and baiscally get experience. We followed a nice guy who was a surgical tech, he took us in to see vaginal births, c-sections and some tubals. we had a ton of fun. we got to dress in scrubs and scrub up for surgery like the docs did. Sometimes on a one on one basis, we got to follow around a resident doc. This would be very different from following a ob/gyn in his office/ hospital. In the LSU program, we didn’t get to leave the hospital, so we didn’t see the office side of things. Does this experience count as shadowing?
Well all experience that exposes you to health care is great and counts!
I just really have to recommend the friend-of-a-friend or friend-of-a-relative route. My mother was able to get me into NIH for a week of shadowing with some really high-up infectious disease physicians and I know it has a lot to do with the fact that she knew these people and told them I’m not a total freak. The experience was invaluable.
Take notes just like you were in class, including the names of diseases and how to spell the doctors you’ve met. I’ve referred to them often for my entrance essays.
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I have a lot about shadowing doctors as good for getting into med school. My favorite doctor is retiring at the end of the year I was thinking I could ask him now if I could shadow him before then. I just wanted to know how much shadowing do i need to get in. How long for shadowing is acceptable for applying to med school? My doc is an ob/gyn, which is what I want to be and he has his own office. Do I shadow him in his office or at the hospital? I guess I need a little insight on shadowing as well. thanks!!
Hi there,
Since you are shadowing an OB-Gyn, some patients may be very uncomfortable having you in the room while they undergo these sensitive examinations. Your doc will likely ask them and respect their wishes if they opt for no observer.
Remember HIPA (Healthcare Information Privacy Act) and do not reveal, discuss any identifying information (diagnosis, names etc) at any point that another person (patient, patient’s family, clerk) may hear you. The is a huge deal and you should discuss this with your preceptor before you shadow.
Try to get a good idea of how the practice runs, how billing is done, how reimbursements are done, how your preceptor works with managed care etc. These will make for good discussions during your medical school interviews and will show that you actually learned something. Be sure to discuss your career plans with your preceptor (could be a good letter writer) and bring copies of your personal statement with you if you have written one at this point. Be very proactive about making this a learning experience rather than passively following your preceptor around.
If you shadow at the hospital, be sure to dress properly and follow the HIPA rules there. Again, your preceptor will ask patients before you enter the room. If you get a chance to observe a delivery or two, stay well out of the way. Sometimes things need to happen pretty fast and you do not want to delay them. Know what is sterile and what is not. It is a good idea to keep your hands and arms folded while you stand in a corner with your back to the wall. This keeps you out of harms way.
Enjoy your experience. You need not have a set number of hours but rather have a quality experience.
Natalie
Thanks for your replies! That definatley sheds some light on shadowing for me! I go in to ask my doc if I can shadow him on Monday morning. Keep your fingers crossed for me!..one more thing. After I have finished my shadowing with this doctor(who is closing his office at the end of the year) do I need to have a letter from him regarding this experience? I know that it is important for me to keep notes. I’ll keep a notebook at all times.
thanks,
I would recommend that you use your shadowing experiences as an adjunct to significant time in a clinical environment, not as a substitute.
Also, unless you include your high school experiences in your personal statement, the med schools won’t see it on your AMCAS application. The experiences section is specifically for experiences which occur after you graduate from high school.
Cheers,
Judy