Hi! I’ve been trying to look for Research opportunities and doctor shadowing opurtunities for sophomores and up? In the tri state area? I’ve been looking through, but couldn’t find many programs.
Also, how can a sophomore (15 yo) get involved in research and shadowing for doctors? I want to apply to BS/MD programs in the future, and I know that it is a crucial aspect to ones application.
But are there any opportunities for HS students? Do I just contact local doctors or lab scientists for shadowing and research, respectively? Sorry, I am a bit new to this.
It is really hard. We found that lots of hospitals had restrictions on students under 18. What we ended up doing was find a program through the state of Louisiana called Area Health Education Center. This provided some shadowing. We then sent her to Nebraska where her Grandmother worked in Healthcare and could get her a couple of weeks we a few different providers. Without family connects she tried but heard No a lot. She is now in the BMS program at University of Central Florida and I think this was important for her applications.
Lots of kids who do have this access leverage parental relationships. It isn't normal or see minor children shadowing clinical practitioners, right? This is why.
Check if there is a state run health lab near you. There is one near us that offers ‘research’ opportunities for high schoolers, though it might start out as washing glasswear.
Ask your pediatrician if you can shadow him or her for a day. I do agree with what is written above - I personally have never seen a high schooler shadowing a physician.
Many hospitals offer volunteer opportunities for high schoolers. This does not involve reaearch, just helping where needed. My daughter did this one summer. She did a little bit of everything: paperwork, preparing vials, folding linens, delivering flowers to patients and filling their water pitchers. It isn’t glamorous work. But, it helps.
I used to manage a high school internship program for a very short time. The hospital we partnered with had kids age 14 and up doing everything except actual medical care. I was pretty shocked. One day I walked in and two of our 16 year old interns were manning the front desk in the lobby. Other students were assisting in physical therapy, counting pills in the pharmacy, interacting with patients while ferrying things between rooms and cleaning changing sheets, etc. None of it was glamorous but medicine isn’t generally super glamorous, no matter what. I don’t know how they managed it with risk management.
There are also formal competitive summer programs to encourage students who want to be doctors/go into medical research. Have you looked into anything like that? What is your “tristate” area? Many parts of the country are “tristate areas”.