<p>Where do you start if you are interested in shadowing a doctor? Would you just call hospitals and ask if high school students are allowed to shadow or do most people get turned down if they contact the hospital directly? Is it better to find doctors offices? ahh.. im really confused... SOMEONE HELP.. lol. Thank you!</p>
<p>i dont know too much about it but my guess is that you find a doctor that you know and talk to him if you can sort of just go around with him, see what he does, sort of a "day in the life of" kinda thing to see if your still interested after watching others do it. I personally never thought of calling a hospital but i guess it seems like a good idea. i guess they would ask doctors if they would mind you tagging along, but in my opinion the chances of them saying yes is low, so you should go with a doctor you already know. Maybe a family friend.....i have no idea if this was helpful but its all i know about shawdowing.</p>
<p>when u shadow a clinical doctor, are you allowed to go into the patients rooms? or do u just see him outside the rooms and in his office.</p>
<p>depends...the doctor will ask each patient individually if they feel comfortable with a student in the room. in my experiance, most patients are alright with it. (and doctor's spend a lot of time with paperwork...so they may just hand you off to reg nurses or physician assistants when they cant quite show you anything hands-on) thats a plus of shadowing a clinical doctor...you get to really see all facets of a private practice.</p>
<p>What if you shadowed a dentist or an optometrist.. those who arent exactly MD's... Would it still look good if you want to get into the combined med schools?</p>
<p>i am assuming any interest in health related fields is more beneficial than none at all. I shadowed an oral maxillofacial surgeon, in addition to other medical professionals.</p>
<p>How did you get that opportunity?</p>
<p>in my opinion, shadowing a dentist would still look good but it would just be soooo boring and a waste of time, even though it is a "good experience".....i'd stick with the doctor</p>
<p>haha true... watching peoples teeth all day must be real thrill.. lolol.. just kidding..</p>
<p>i tried all last summer to get an internship at doctor's offices, hospitals, nutrition centers, i went TONS of places..and none of them worked. i even went to my own physician (who i am pretty close to and said she would hire me when i got my CNA) did not return my phone calls or faxes. i think actually that my physician never saw those faxes; the receptionist probably kept them from her; i think if i had talked to her in person, things would have turned out differently. </p>
<p>so anyways, at my high school, i was in our health science tech program. my junior year we rotated at a nursing home, became Certified Nurse Assistants, and made hospital rotations. my senior year i interned at a walgreens, and then the last semester, each of us were in charge of finding a health care place to intern. my mom suggested my sister's Ear-Nose-Throat Specialist (otolaryngologist/head & neck surgeon), known for his goofy humor. he said yes right away. i think finding a doctor who will let you shadow him is about the doctor's personality. they will let you follow them if they care about what you are doing; and if they dont care and you end up shadowing them, it wont be the best experience you can have. i told him i was in the process of getting into a combined medical program, and i think his excitement for me convinced patients to let me be present for their appointment. </p>
<p>although ear-nose-throat stuff sounds like it could get old, i learned stuff till my last day. he ended up giving my recommendations that helped me get in.</p>
<p>actually, dentistry is not that bad...just not my profession of choice. Dental surgeries, including reconstructions and wisdom teeth removal, are interesting in their own way...esp. the artistic side of dentistry. But if you can find a physician who touches on a little bit of everything, like a family practioner, your experiance will be more well-rounded. I was able to experiance a mixture of things...like explaining to a patient the procedure needed for his inguinal hernia and then spending lunch talking down med sales reps. I shadowed a doctor that graduated from the same combined degree med school I was interested in attending and was able to get a lot of information that way. My oppurtunities just stemmed from my own doctors/dentists, who recommended me to their peers.</p>
<p>That's awesome, thats really interesting... which combined med program did you attend?</p>
<p>can any of you post on how you approached the doctor (email, phone, letter, etc).</p>