FrenchPressedMD Posted June 22, 2016 Report Share Posted June 22, 2016 I am going into my first year of medicine, and I am wondering what the best time to start shadowing and exploring my career options is. Also, is shadowing mostly just to get a sense of what I would want to specialize in, or do people also shadow to develop connections, get references and experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralk Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 I am going into my first year of medicine, and I am wondering what the best time to start shadowing and exploring my career options is. Also, is shadowing mostly just to get a sense of what I would want to specialize in, or do people also shadow to develop connections, get references and experience? Start whenever you have time. Observerships in medical school can be really whatever you want it to be really, depending on who you're following. Some people use it to explore different specialties, others use it for experience, others use it for connections. It's not a place to get references because you're far too early in training with far too little responsibility to allow for a good reference, but if you used shadowing to develop some connections, it could conceivably make getting references easier later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 I would favour the former, since it may be premature to start working on the latter without a clear idea of where you want to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralk Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 I would favour the former, since it may be premature to start working on the latter without a clear idea of where you want to go. That's what I favoured as well, but there were some of the gunners who did more in-depth, long-term observerships pretty early on (maybe not right away, but in 1st year for sure). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Sure, if they've zeroed in on a career choice already. I was replying in terms of the OP's situation, since it doesn't sound like that would be applicable to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikimate Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Maybe coordinate your shadowing with lectures. For example if you find CHF lecture interesting do some cardio ward shadowing. Helpful in establishing connections at your home school. Remember what you see shadowing is a limited view of the specialty, so life as a resident or staff is probably more complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrenchPressedMD Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Thank you so much for the information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukmedstudent Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 I am going into my first year of medicine, and I am wondering what the best time to start shadowing and exploring my career options is. Also, is shadowing mostly just to get a sense of what I would want to specialize in, or do people also shadow to develop connections, get references and experience? For me, I shadow during my summer break after 1st year. It gave me the opportunity to learn and practice clinical skills. It also gives me an idea of the kind of work that the specialty is involved in. Of course, as I met new people and superiors, these are potential referees and new connections. But, it does not really matter that much (yet) as I am still very early into my medical school. What is more important to me is that these shadowing experiences kept me interested, supported my learning and whetted my appetite for clinical years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.