Guest BCgirl Posted June 28, 2001 Report Share Posted June 28, 2001 I don't know any doctors, so I'm having trouble finding one to shadow. Does anyone have any advice on how to find doctors that will let you shadow them? I tried calling the medical association here to see if they could point me in the right direction, but they weren't much help. My mother is a nurse, so I asked her to ask the doctors she works with if any of them know doctors working in the city I'm in that would be willing to let me shadow them. If I don't get any good suggestions from them, what should I try next? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ginny Posted June 29, 2001 Report Share Posted June 29, 2001 I have been wondering about this too, but I have absolutely no place to start from (no one I know works in the health field). I live in Vancouver too, so I am wondering about shadowing here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AndyStew Posted June 29, 2001 Report Share Posted June 29, 2001 My suggestion is to try and get a volunteer position in a hospital close to by. From personal experience, volunteering in the Emergency room was an excellent experience and opportunity to witness a high stress medical atmosphere. It also provided information to discuss during my interview! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BCgirl Posted June 29, 2001 Report Share Posted June 29, 2001 Actually, I live in Halifax (my mom works in a small town outside the city). I am volunteering at a hospital, but not in the ER. Students aren't allowed to volunteer in the ER of the hospitals in Halifax. I really enjoy what I'm doing for volunteering, but unfortunately I don't see any doctors (I volunteer with recreation therapy). Since I don't see any doctors when I'm volunteering, that's one of the reasons why I want to find one to shadow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Akane200 Posted June 29, 2001 Report Share Posted June 29, 2001 Have you tried the univertsity career centre? They often provide job shadowing opportunities for undergrads. I agree that volunteering may not provide such opportunities as ER, but you still work with doctors and other staff. May be you could ask them for shadowing opportunities available to students. Although, as a med student, I feel it was much easier getting shadowing opportunities (for obvious reasons) after getting in. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clairisa Posted June 29, 2001 Report Share Posted June 29, 2001 I m also curious about physician shadowing opportunities. I live in Vancouver. I have done a variety of volunteer jobs within a couple different hospitals none of which have provided me with very much contact with doctors. Thanks in advance to anyone has input. I am going to try talking to my family doc about this as well. Clairisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tones Posted June 30, 2001 Report Share Posted June 30, 2001 It's extremely difficult in shadowing patients in Canada. I think the doctors are much more strict about patient confidentiality etc. My mom's a nurse in a hospital and she was able to arrange a meeting with a doctor but that was just that. The doctor said the patients were feeling "icky" and didn't want to be met which I totally understand. This may sound odd, but it would already be stretching it if a first year med student was shadowing my doctor, how much more with a college student... tones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted June 30, 2001 Report Share Posted June 30, 2001 This really depends on the location. In Queens, shadowing is encouraged. They call them observerships and a family medicine observership is in the first term curriculum. A lot of patients in Kingston are wiling to have a student in because it's helping them become better doctors. It might be harder if you're not in med school. However, I've had some difficulty doing shadowing in Calgary as a Queens student. They claim insurance and liability problems. Whatever. Every med student is insured by their own school and is fully covered. Anyway, enough griping. As a med student, most patients do not have a problem with you being there(as long as it's not something very embarassing like a pelvic exam when you're a male student) and I have seen 3 prostate exams in a single afternoon with a family physician. As an undergrad, there is lots more paperwork for the insurance. You might be able to slip into surgery if you know the attending surgeon or chief resident. One more thing. Professionalism is very important. If you do go on an observership, dress to the NINES. Shirt, tie, dress pants, dress shoes. Patients need to know that you know what you're doing. If you don't, act like it anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted July 3, 2001 Report Share Posted July 3, 2001 Shadowing can be tough to do if you don't have a doctor among your family friends. My suggestion would be to talk to your family doctor. If you are lucky enough to live in a city with a medical school, then you might want to contact the medical school itself. For example, here at UBC, all first and second year students rotate through a number of family doctors (eight after two years), and those doctors have volunteered their time to help guide us through each patient encounter. My first doctor, after noticing just how nervous I was, told me that since he's been volunteering for several consecutive years, that many of his patients have become familiar with the routine, and are thus more approachable than your random stranger. As a result, you might want to ask the medical school if they could contact some of those family doctors in your area, and ask whether it would be all right for you to shadow them. I know that for us medical students, UBC actually maintains a directory of Vancouver doctors who are willing to let you shadow them as med students. It's quite likely that some of these doctors would let you shadow even as a premed. Other than that, my best advice is to check out the local hospital, and be fairly aggressive when asking whether there are any available doctors who would be willing to let you shadow them. Many are honoured by the prospect (although not all will be, so don't be discouraged if you are utterly rejected). There's always a few good doctors in every hospital; the hard part is finding them. Also, Strider gave you some dynamite advice. Dress well. Appearance can convey the illusion of competance. After a couple years of med school, I know this firsthand. Ian UBC, Med 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clairisa Posted July 3, 2001 Report Share Posted July 3, 2001 Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I will try contacting UBC Med School. Should I just phone the admissions office or is there a better number/person to call? Also if I were to contact the hospital itself (eg VGH) should I contact Human Resources? Sorry not quite sure where to go with this! Thanks Again for the help peeps Clairisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YongQ Posted July 3, 2001 Report Share Posted July 3, 2001 You might hear of wonderfully accessible shadowing/volunteer opportunities on some of the U.S. forums, but in Canada I have the impression that no applicant has had a doctor-shadowing experience. To tell you the truth, I think it should be this way - someone w/o the proper credentials could seriously screw up a patient if he/she did anything "medical" routinely! :rollin And with issues of confidentiality and liability as mentioned above, there aren't many institutions willing to give you that much room. Good luck w/ your search anyhow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted July 4, 2001 Report Share Posted July 4, 2001 Hi Clairisa, Call the UBC Med admissions office, and don't call the VGH office, as they have very little to do with Family Practice. UBC Med admissions may then refer you to the Family Practice department, which is located just beside VGH, but the UBC folks know a great deal about this type of thing, and they are the people to contact first. Tell them that you are a premed student, and are interested in finding out whether they know of any physicians who are interested in letting you accompany them. If they tell you about malpractice and insurance and stuff, politely ask if that will be a problem, as you simply want to observe, and not physically touch or do anything. If you'd like, you can mention my name as someone who suggested that the doctors in the Family Practice program might be particularly suitable for this as their patients are accustomed to the doctor having a companion in the office. The chances are very good that if the person there isn't new or temporary for the summer that they will know who I am, especially if you mention that I just finished second year med. I'm in that office fairly frequently. If not, ask them for other suggestions, and see how things go from there. The office folks might be busy with other things, but I think you'll get a good answer of some sort from them. Good luck, and I hope it works out. Ian UBC, Med 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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