4 answers
Hanan
Student
Canton, Michigan
35
Questions
Asked
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Shadowing opportunities for med students?
How can medical students find shadowing opportunities that are not with faculty from their school? #Fall24
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4 answers
Brett Schlifstein
Anesthesiologist
42
Answers
Pittsboro, North Carolina
Updated
Brett’s Answer
Hi Hanan,
I read Michelle's answer above, and I just wanted to give you my two cents, as my opinion is quite different.
Yes, you are in medical school and presumably have made the commitment to becoming a physician. However, there are many specialties to choose from, and you will most likely be undergoing additional training after medical school. So shadowing may be helpful in making this choice. Also, while in medical school you are exposed to most/all adademic physicians. Private practice is quite different, so once again, shadowing a non-faculty physician may be helpful in your career choice after medical school.
Hope that helps!
Brett Schlifstein, M.D.
Anesthesia Director
ECU Health Roanoke Chowan Hospital
I read Michelle's answer above, and I just wanted to give you my two cents, as my opinion is quite different.
Yes, you are in medical school and presumably have made the commitment to becoming a physician. However, there are many specialties to choose from, and you will most likely be undergoing additional training after medical school. So shadowing may be helpful in making this choice. Also, while in medical school you are exposed to most/all adademic physicians. Private practice is quite different, so once again, shadowing a non-faculty physician may be helpful in your career choice after medical school.
Hope that helps!
Brett Schlifstein, M.D.
Anesthesia Director
ECU Health Roanoke Chowan Hospital
Your opinion is valued and I just wanted to mention that my advice to the student is based on first hand experience working for three Medical Schools in the North East in recent times. There are subtle differences in protocol in various regions and the advice I gave pertains to the current standards of the North Eastern part of the U.S. Note that I did mention there are always offsite trainings and conferences that teach the student, not Shadowing. Thanks for participating here at Career Village !
Michelle M.
Alyssa Browning
cardiologist
16
Answers
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Updated
Alyssa’s Answer
Hello. I am an employed physician (in other words not "private practice" and not "academic"). I also disagree with the advice from Michelle. Shadowing is a fantastic idea, and in fact I wish I had done this during medical school years 1/2/3. Especially the first 2 years...though you feel like you have no time. I agree with the other physician above who wrote that academic medicine practice has some differences from "private practice" and/or being an employed physician in a hospital or medical group that is not "academic" (in other words, my job). I think it's a great idea if you pick out 2 or 3 specialties that you are interested in , and even spend 2-4 hours a couple times with a doctor in the clinic or hospital would be very helpful. And I think most physicians would not say "no" because you aren't asking them to do anything hard, or very time consuming (like having to grade you or teach you something specific). I agree that asking faculty about shadowing is a good idea, and asking them if they know any colleagues, etc. But another way would be just calling your local county or state medical society...but would be helpful if you know specific specialty or specialties you are interested in, to some extent. Also it looks like you are in MIchigan. Unfortunately I don't know anyone there. However, if you are already a medical student (in med school 1st or 2nd year, etc.), I would suggest go to your "career services" office at your med school and tell them you want to do this and see if they can help you find someone. The people who work there are in a position to know faculty members in clinical practice. Also, if your med school has an alumni office or alumni association, they might be able to help you find someone (a doctor who went to your med school in the past and maybe is active with fundraising for the school or donating money, etc. ) - these types might be "nice" to students. Also you could even just Google and look for local private practices online and even just call and ask for the office manager and see if one or more of the doctors there will let you "shadow" - this might be more effective for true private practice offices- they work for themselves and don't need "permission" from anyone to let you shadow them. One problem you may run into is that hospitals have a lot of rules about who is allowed "in" and there are medical privacy rules in regard to patients, etc. So you might be limited to the office rather than shadowing in a hospital unless the doctor works in a hospital affiliated with your medical school.
Josh McCormick
Patient Care Technician
8
Answers
Springfield, Missouri
Updated
Josh’s Answer
Hanan, the best way to find shadowing opportunities is to ask your current faculty if they know anyone you can shadow. If they don’t, then reach out to local hospitals and healthcare facilities and ask if you can shadow one of their practitioners. This process can be a bit time consuming as you make calls and wait for return calls but keep at it! Shadowing before medical school is always a great choice to get insight into the career.
Michelle M.
Actress
3284
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Hanan !
I would be happy to provide some information to you that you may have been thinking about based on the question you have asked. Your question is contradictory, but I would be happy to explain so that you can gain a different understanding about being a medical student and what Shadowing is. Medical Students do not Shadow.
Let's first clarify what Shadowing is. Shadowing is when someone has a career interest that they do not know about and they want to learn more about that particular career. The person who shadows has never been around the field of work they have thoughts about. They believe that being with a professional for 4 - 8 hours and watching them work would be enough to make a decision about being in the career. I always advise against shadowing for medical doctors because there are patient privacy and comfort issues as well as facility confidentiality that administrators may have in place. As well, taking care of patients is a very focused, private and sensitive duty and doctors have the right to privacy and being undisturbed while with their patients. It is not in the curriculum in Medical School to Shadow. I'll tell you why - you're already in there, learning and doing work outside of a classroom setting.
In the latter part of your first year in Medical School, and in your second year, you will be working on patients. But these are not real patients, they are actors portraying patients. You will take a complete physical and psych/social history, examine the patient, diagnose and refer for tests and present the plan to the patient. So, medical students are already sure that they want to be a doctor and shadowing isn't a thing for these students. During the course of learning, you may be required to observe your professors demonstrate techniques, procedures, etc., but it's not "shadowing". Only the professors at the medical school you go to are the ones that enrolled students will be expected to follow. Of course, there will always be off campus trainings and conferences, too.
If a person has thoughts of becoming a medical doctor and wants to learn more about the profession, there are many videos on You Tube of people in Medical School as well as practicing doctors that present information via video about the career. Whenever you visit a doctor for services for yourself, you can ask them some brief questions about the career, too. You most certainly can also do an internet search for "what is it like to be a medical doctor" for more information.
Keep this information in mind and do firsthand exploring about any career you think you may want. If you are already in Medical School, seek guidance at the Academic Advisory office and tell them why, as a medical student, you'd want to Shadow, as that is what your question clearly states. They may be able to explain the details for you of the next four years content of what you'd be doing.
Exploring careers is always an exciting venture with great revelation. I wish you all the best !
I would be happy to provide some information to you that you may have been thinking about based on the question you have asked. Your question is contradictory, but I would be happy to explain so that you can gain a different understanding about being a medical student and what Shadowing is. Medical Students do not Shadow.
Let's first clarify what Shadowing is. Shadowing is when someone has a career interest that they do not know about and they want to learn more about that particular career. The person who shadows has never been around the field of work they have thoughts about. They believe that being with a professional for 4 - 8 hours and watching them work would be enough to make a decision about being in the career. I always advise against shadowing for medical doctors because there are patient privacy and comfort issues as well as facility confidentiality that administrators may have in place. As well, taking care of patients is a very focused, private and sensitive duty and doctors have the right to privacy and being undisturbed while with their patients. It is not in the curriculum in Medical School to Shadow. I'll tell you why - you're already in there, learning and doing work outside of a classroom setting.
In the latter part of your first year in Medical School, and in your second year, you will be working on patients. But these are not real patients, they are actors portraying patients. You will take a complete physical and psych/social history, examine the patient, diagnose and refer for tests and present the plan to the patient. So, medical students are already sure that they want to be a doctor and shadowing isn't a thing for these students. During the course of learning, you may be required to observe your professors demonstrate techniques, procedures, etc., but it's not "shadowing". Only the professors at the medical school you go to are the ones that enrolled students will be expected to follow. Of course, there will always be off campus trainings and conferences, too.
If a person has thoughts of becoming a medical doctor and wants to learn more about the profession, there are many videos on You Tube of people in Medical School as well as practicing doctors that present information via video about the career. Whenever you visit a doctor for services for yourself, you can ask them some brief questions about the career, too. You most certainly can also do an internet search for "what is it like to be a medical doctor" for more information.
Keep this information in mind and do firsthand exploring about any career you think you may want. If you are already in Medical School, seek guidance at the Academic Advisory office and tell them why, as a medical student, you'd want to Shadow, as that is what your question clearly states. They may be able to explain the details for you of the next four years content of what you'd be doing.
Exploring careers is always an exciting venture with great revelation. I wish you all the best !