<p>I wanted to do some shadowing at the hospital. How many hours do students usually put into shadowing? I'm sure its not like volunteering right? where you can decide the number of hours and when you want to go in.</p>
<p>Well you need to work around the physician's schedule. They're doing you a favor.</p>
<p>One afternoon or morning a week is a good amount of time if you can do it. I think a minimum of 2 hours at a time is required to get a decent feel, any less than that and you don't get the full picture...</p>
<p>Of course part of it also depends on what type of physician you are following. If following an orthopedic surgeon who does 4-5 hour surgeries, you might want to stay in for the whole case (although as a HS student they're unlikely to let you scrub in...and watching surgeries from a distance is really boring).</p>
<p>"(although as a HS student they're unlikely to let you scrub in...and watching surgeries from a distance is really boring)." Is it even allowed by law for HS to watch surgeries (patient confidentiality etc...)?</p>
<p>When you shadow at a hospital, are you expected to volunteer there?<br>
I'm interested in shadowing at a hospital &volunteering in the ER, to eventually be exposed to the "darker" and hectic side of medecine. So far, the paperwork side of medecine that I'm acquainted with is very boring. Besides, I didn't see any exciting things when shadowing a internal medecine doctor.</p>
<p>well, if I start shadowing now and I'm a rising senior. would that look bad to colleges? I dont' want them to get the impression that I'm just trying to pad my resume. the truth is, I never considered shadowing before. and I have been busy with other medically related stuff like medical research.</p>
<p>Well, I shadowed a clinical surgeon for about 5 days, all during different weeks - with 3 days in the clinic and 2 days in the OR. I was there from around 7:30 to about 6pm on the clinical days, and from 6:30 to 6pm on OR days. This is definitely not volunteering, but your physician will probably give you some paperwork or something. It was VERY VERY fun in the OR, because I was scrubbed in (the 2nd time I was there) for 2 cases. One was a 4 hour mastectomy and another was an 2 hour hiatal hernia repair. I also learned a lot, talking to the EMTs, nurses, and the anesthesiologist. However, it does get boring when you doctor starts doing citations and reports (they talk extremely fast)</p>
<p>I don't know how big your local hospital is, but I had to call clinics to get a surgeon, since most surgeons are lawfully not a staff of any hospital. Physicians are different, however, and I'm sure you can find one at the hospital. Keep in mind: most clinics will not respond, but just call the whole lot of them and you'll get a kind person to respond.</p>
<p>As for volunteering in the ER.. they won't let you. However, you can definitely call up the hospital and ask to shadow a ER/trauma physician at the hospital.</p>
<p>As for the college thing.. I'm a senior as well, but I really don't know how to put this on an application. I was thinking of writing about my experiences in the OR in the long essay, but I have also asked my surgeon to write me a recommendation (even though I do not know how in hell I can send this to a college... because he's not a "teacher").</p>
<p>It won't look bad to colleges. I was trying to imply that it'll look good b/c it's another accomplishment, not because of your interest in medicine. You can of course explain to them that is why you did it, but they won't be like "we should totally have this kid in our school b/c s/he's so interested in medicine!"</p>
<p>As far as HIPPA goes...I know when I volunteered part of the orientation involved videos and a short test on safeguarding patient confidentiality. This should apply to anyone and everyone in the hospital in some sort of official capacity. Shadowing however is kind of a gray area though...it's not illegal, just illegal to not safeguard patient information. Really it's common sense stuff and your physician should be able to explain it to you and look out for situations in which there might be a problem.</p>
<p>I think you are allowed to watch surgeries in HS or else i broke the law, and at the hospital i did it at they let scrub up and stand right where the anesthesiologist stands and watch it from there as well as standing right next to the surgeon and get a look at what they were doing from about a foot away</p>
<p>You don't need to scrub to stand next to the anesthesiologist.</p>
<p>To clarify, "scrubbing in" (at least how I've always encountered it) means you gown and glove with appropriate sterile technique. It's not that it's necessarily hard to do, but having to keep track of an extra (less mature) person is a burden. Believe me, scrub nurses, circulators and scrub techs are wary enough of third year medical students, I can only imagine how the ones I've med would react to a HS student. Even my third year resident on Ortho this past week contaminated himself, so it's not always an easy thing to do, even when you have a lot of experience.</p>
<p>I'm not denying that the people here who claimed to have done it haven't, just that those looking for shadowing experiences shouldn't expect it.</p>
<p>^Haha, when I wasn't scrubbed in, the OR supervisor kept telling me "never to touch the green or blue stuff or else I'd have to beat you." However, I was always about a feet or less my surgeon standing on a pedestal observing.. and whenever I stood back, my surgeon would tell me to get closer and see what he was doing! When I was scrubbed in, though, I was allowed anywhere in the field, and we had quite a few really good laughs - the EMT/OR Techie was looking up stuff on his new iPhone, and he was reading some articles about Lohan, Vick, Paris, etc.. I could even touch the green and blue stuff!</p>
<p>My surgeon was really an extraordinary person. The man would allow me (being only 16) to see everything, learn everything, and ask him a billion questions. He never felt any burden or tension around me, and neither did any of his colleagues - including the OR folks in addition to the clinical staffers.</p>
<p>As for "scrubbing in," only the folks handling the tools (surgeon, OR technitian, and one other nurse holding the instruments: which excludes the nurse handling the devices, anesthesiologists, OR supervisor, etc) get to do it. And yes, you just gown up and glove up with sterile material, and after you have been sterilized with some type of chemical that you place on your hands and lower arms.</p>
<p>I have a question, though. How would I include this in my application, since this is not really an extracurricular activity? The only ways I thought was by a recommendation (which I am getting, but I don't know how to submit) and by an essay (which I still do not know a clear topic).</p>
<p>Bigred - may I PM you asking for you suggestion concerning my essay topic?</p>
<p>Why couldn't you include it as an extracurricular? It's "outside" or "in addition to" your curriculum (schooling), is it not?</p>
<p>Okay, so how do I go about elaborating my shadowing experience since my hospital says that for high school students, it's usually a one-time experience?
How many times have you guys gone in to shadow one physician? and did you guys also have to fill out forms and met all the health requirements before shadowing?</p>
<p>Depends on your school too. Some Science Magnet/Prep schools allow one day/week for "Senior Experience" in your last year.</p>
<p>You can apply this time toward shadowing throughout your school year.</p>
<p>If you finish up a lot of APs by Jr year, you will get more free time in your Sr year to dedicate to shadowing.</p>
<p>i had never heard of shadowing before until this year, my senior year. it sounds really interesting, but again, i am afraid that colleges with think that i just did it for college apps. and whats even worse is that i dont have any medical related ec--so this is will have been my first.
so should i just shadow anyway and write it in my app, shadow and just dont mention it, or not shadow at all.</p>
<p>btw--how hard is it to get a doctor? can we just call into the hospital and ask?
thanks</p>
<p>If you want to shadow a doc, go ahead and shadow... I don't think a college will reject you just for doing something like that.</p>
<p>Most Medical School admission committees will be more impressed by a demonstrated commitment to service-related EC's or research than by a few days of following a doctor around. I am not so certain that a lecture about confidentiality is sufficient to meet HIPAA requirements when there is no bona fide business association between the physician and a high school student.</p>