B3.572A Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 I am a first year medical student, and I have been interested in radiology for some time, before I got into medical school. I am now thinking of starting shadowing radiologists, and getting involved in some research projects. Is there anything I should pay attention to when requesting shadowing opportunities? Our school provides a list of physicians who are open to have medical students shadow them. Is it more beneficial to shadow one radiologist multiple times, to get a deeper understanding of the field, or to shadow different radiologists and hear their potentially different insights? I also have an email address of the chief residents in my school. Is it more helpful to shadow senior residents first, and approach attendings after getting more information about the program? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 I think that over the course of an afternoon/morning with someone, you'd be able to exhaust most people's perspectives about why they chose the field, what they like about it, etc. If you had a good rapport with someone, you could try to parlay that into a research project, rather than multiple shadowing sessions (unless it's an elective like IR where a student can advance in responsibility, versus shadowing in diagnostic radiology where a student is quite limited in what they can do). To get a deeper understanding of the field, I'd suggest shadowing different areas in radiology, like mammo/IR/ultrasound, and perhaps different settings (though community/clinic settings may not be as accessible to a medical student). This would also allow you to be exposed to different radiologists at the same time. Residents can be a great source of info. I don't think it would hurt to contact the chiefs and get their advice on setting up shadowing at your school. Also don't discount the junior residents - they are closer to the whole career selection process, and often the more junior the person, the freer their schedule is to spend time chatting with you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3.572A Posted October 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 Thanks a lot for the reply, Lactic Folly! Great advice about shadowing different areas of radiology. I will contact the residents and seek their advice about setting up shadowing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 You're welcome One other piece of advice I was given was to be flexible and open to spending time in a different area, if the area you were originally going to visit turns out to be especially busy that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3.572A Posted October 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thanks again! Great advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mononoke Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Interventional rads is pretty sweet and it's good that you're doing it in first year while the anatomy is still fresh because you might get asked a few anatomy questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3.572A Posted October 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Thanks mononoke! Sounds like I should review my anatomy before the shadowing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W0lfgang Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 shadow a resident for a few call shifts here and there. It can be a good experience too. Show up at 5 and stay for a few hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3.572A Posted October 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Thanks, W0lfgang I thought about shadowing call shifts, but would having someone observing make the on-call residents uneasy? I mean, I would imagine being on call is busy and stressful enough for a resident, so they may not like being shadowed at that time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 If you are strictly shadowing and not expecting any attention/explanations as people do their work, I don't think it would be too much of an imposition - not any more than sitting with someone during the day. Maybe as a medical student at the same institution, you could even be helpful (looking things up in EMR, etc.) But just ask and see what they say - every institution is different (size of call room, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3.572A Posted October 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 Thanks for the insights. Appreciated it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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