What to Expect When Shadowing Physicians

Table of Contents

Blog Post Focus

In this post I shall be discussing what to expect when shadowing a physician. Heads up–every experience will be different, but overall should be a relaxed way to get more experience regarding pursuing a career in medicine.

Introduction: A Relaxed Opportunity

Shadowing physicians should be a relaxed opportunity to gain exposure to medical practice and the workday of a physician. Shadowing is following behind, observing the physician. It is taking in information about the responsibilities and demands of the physician. It is an opportunity to see different practice styles and specialties.

What to Expect When Shadowing

A Passive Affair

One, expect a passive, observational experience. The physicians expect you to be observing to find out if being a physician is for you. The physician will likely be quite busy interacting with patients, staff, other providers, and writing notes.

Two, expect that much of the day may seem underwhelming. Much of being a physician is relaying medical and health information. Documentation can be quite time-consuming. Even during times with less stable patients or during procedures or surgeries you will be an observer—any task witnessed from afar can be underwhelming.

Confusion and a Bit of Clarity

Three, expect confusion. The physician will try to work some conversations with you into the day and to explain what is going on, but they will be busy. They may not be used to taking shadows. The other staff may not be sure of your role. If you don’t know what you should be doing, just ask. If someone asks who you are, simply introduce yourself.

Four, expect that each shadowing experience will add a little more information to guide your understanding of whether or not you want to pursue medical education. One provider’s workday can vary dramatically each day. This workday varies dramatically from other physicians in the same specialty and even more so in other specialties. It takes a lot of experiences to build up a feel for what the average workday is like for a physician.

The Most Important Skill

Five, expect the physicians to care more about your social skills than academic knowledge. Sure, they may discuss some academic things with you, but they would much rather have someone interesting to talk to than a machine who wants to work or who thinks they know a lot. You have a lot to learn, and your experience will go best if you interact as a regular human (in a professional context!).

What Not to Expect

Assessments of Knowledge?

One, don’t expect to be quizzed or to know what is going on. You don’t have medical education or expertise at this point so they do not expect you to contribute during patient encounters. As such they should not be testing your medical knowledge. Instead, the physician realizes this is a chance for you to see if you would want to be like they: do you want a similar work reality?

An Active Participant?

Two, do not expect to be involved in the action. Don’t expect to understand what is going on. Physicians have years of schooling before they get into medical practice. They then refine their craft after several years. You should not be able to immediately follow what is happening.

Ready to Impress?

Three, don’t expect to impress the physician. They didn’t invite you to shadow for you to impress them. They invited you to give you a view of their life. That being said, if you develop a relationship with the physician and you end up getting a lot of experience together, you may end up impressing them in ways that matter to you right then – that you are curious, have a good sense, a good attitude, and would excel in medical school. If this is the case, great – get a letter of recommendation from them.

Conclusion

Most physicians were in your place at some point, looking for exposure to the medical field, trying to get something more than a vague sense they wanted to be a doctor. Use shadowing as a chance to see if you would be happy doing what these physicians do each day. See if your personality fits the field. See if you are happy to be there or bored or anxious. All these provide great information to you.