<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am currently a Sophomore at John Jay College with an interest in going to Med - School. Does anyone know how I can get research experience or physician shadowing. Also are there any good summer programs or extracurricular activities out there for Pre- Med Students?</p>
<p>There are no formal programs for physician shadowing. Like every other pre-med, you’re on your own to find opportunities. You should start by talking to your primary care provider and networking from there. If you or any of your family members or friends know any physicians, contact them and ask about shadowing. </p>
<p>If you volunteer at clinical site (like a hospital clinic or nursing home), you can also ask any physicians you meet while working there.</p>
<p>The best research opportunities are usually at your own college, but since JJ doesn’t have a science faculty, you’ll need to apply to summer research programs. You’ve already missed the application deadline for many of these programs, but here’s a giant list of summer pre med internships to look thru and see if any are still accepting applications. </p>
<p><a href=“http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm”>http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm</a></p>
<p>Other good summer activities for pre meds include clinical volunteering ( at a hospital, stand alone health clinic, group or nursing home) and community service activities.</p>
<p>Is being a premed a possibility at John Jay college if there is no science department?</p>
<p>@texaspg we have a forensic science department.
@wayoutwestmom thank you so much for your help!</p>
<p>Don’t they do research then? </p>
<p>@texaspg they have a research program for Forensic Science students during their senior year</p>
<p>There should be ongoing research though in which students should be able to participate during summers.</p>
<p>@texaspg I will ask. Thank you for your help.</p>
<p>Research position is the easiest to obtain at your college. To shadow, ask you rfamily physician, any “specialty” doc that you have seen, ask MD parents of your friends. Summer research programs are very very diffcult to get into. My advice is based on my D’s experiences, I do not know anything else. The experiences might be very different from college to college from location to location. It always much easier if you have connections, but again, D. has relied only on herself.</p>
<p>During the school year my daughter participated in a shadowing program already in place for pre-meds at her undergrad but she actually had a more significant experience working with an orthopedic surgeon (who had operated on her father) when home on breaks. She had a paying job in the morning and shadowed/set up a data base organizing the doctor’s research in the afternoons. This went on for a couple of summers. I don’t think it is still allowed but he let her scrub in to multiple surgeries each week and though she was merely a fly on the wall, she saw everything. </p>
<p>I know students who shadowed their pediatricians, allergists, and derms. Most of the doctors I know are delighted to have pre-meds shadow as long as there is a seriousness of intent. </p>
<p>D did little if any bench research as an undergrad and it didn’t seem to hurt her. She did clinical research with an NIH grant recipient who was working in an area that interested her. She discovered this person by working the phones and talking to every person she knew affiliated with a teaching hospital. </p>