Why is exposure to the medical field important?
After knowing yourself, it is absolutely critical to fully know the profession you are seeking to enter. And not just because the medical schools require that you show evidence of your exposure to the profession. For the same reason you might take a career assessment, seeking out experiences in healthcare and medicine is one more way to discern for yourself that you are a good fit for this career. The same actions you may take to help in your discernment – shadowing, volunteering, working, asking, reading – are all ways you immerse yourself in exposure to the profession of medicine. And this exposure that helps you discern also reassures medical schools that you have fully explored and understand the nature of a career as a physician. So go ahead – expose yourself!
Searching for a physician?
Networking
Networking is one of those activities that means different things to different people. For a pre-med student networking with doctors and current medical school students simply means getting to know a variety of physicians and med school students in a number of different areas in order to learn more about specialties and about different approaches to medicine.
There are some formal networking groups that are established for mentoring, shadowing, etc., but creating your own network is usually more effective. Some of the ways you can go about connecting with physicians include:
· Shadowing your own physician
· Asking for more referrals from every physician that you spend any time with
· Getting to know current medical school students and asking them about physicians that they shadowed where they had a good experience
· Locating alumni from any number of medical schools and in different cities through the ReferenceUSA database available through the Career Center
Networking is really just asking to spend some time with physicians and health care professionals in order to learn more about medical school and about health care.
ReferenceUSA
ReferenceUSA is an Internet-based research tool available for all Creighton University students, faculty, and staff. Besides being a searchable Business Database providing detailed information of more than 14 Million U.S. Businesses, ReferenceUSA also includes a Health Care database. The Career Center offers detailed instructions on how to find a physician to shadow anywhere in the country using Reference USA.
When shadowing a physician...
1. Complete HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act) training before you shadow. (HIPAA training is part of the volunteering training process at CUMC and is a requirement of the PMED Seminar Program for CU undergraduates.)
2. Know WHY you want to shadow a particular physician (and not just because he/she was on a Creighton list of physicians).
3. Send your resume in advance to the physician and/or the office assistant arranging for your visit.
4. Always call the physician’s office and ask to speak with the person that arranges pre-med shadowing visits. Do NOT assume that the physician does this scheduling.
5. Be as flexible as possible in terms of scheduling. You must work around the physician’s schedule. Discuss the duration and number of visits that are most appropriate; this will vary depending on the office, the specialty and the relationship you develop with each particular doctor.
6. Shadow by yourself; shadowing is not a group activity or a field trip.
7. Dress professionally, but comfortably. Wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes.
8. Be prepared to ask intelligent questions. You may want to see if the physician can recommend other physicians to shadow. If so, ask if you can use his/her name when setting up a shadowing experience.
9. Understand that you are there to watch, listen and learn. Clarify with the physician how he/she wants you to observe interaction with patients. If a patient seems the least bit uncomfortable with your presence, despite what they say, find a way to excuse yourself from that particular situation.
10. Always write a thank you note to the doctor AND the office staff that arranged your visits.
Additional Resources
AspiringDocs.org's Preparing for Medical School provides additional information.
Back to PMED 100 Homepage or PMED 200 Homepage.