cortana431

Hey, starting next week, I will be shadowing a physician in her clinic and some of her co-workers. It's all set up and I asked what would be appropriate attire and she said "regular clothes" in a casual tone. Does that mean it would be all right to wear say cargo shorts and a polo shirt? Or should I still wear something more formal like khakis and a polo shirt or a button down?

cortana431

Or should I just contact her again and ask more specifically?

curmudgeon

Go with your second choice. I'll translate ..."regular adult workplace clothes".

entomom

No shorts IMO. The polo is good.

bluebayou

on the first day, it's important to make an excellent first impression (so you are assured of getting invited back). Go with button down on Day 1, and you can switch to polos later in the week.

curmudgeon

But wear your big kid pants.

cortana431

Thanks for replies, I understand now. The clinic is open from 10am - 5pm; am I expected to shadow for the entire hours or would say 4-5 hours be enough?

WayOutWestMom

Unless you were told otherwise, I'd expect to be there all day. Or as long as your mentor is there.

After all, the length of the day is part of the job experience.....Besides if you leave early/arrive late you might miss something cool.

bluebayou

"volunteer" to stay all day (never know when an emergency will walk in), but if they tell you you are "done" at 3:00 pm you should follow the hint.

cortana431

So I intend to do it for 5 and a half hours, once a week until I leave for college, giving me about 27 hours total; does that sound like enough to be meaningful?

i_wanna_be_Brown

That's a nice start...27 hours is nothing come application time

curmudgeon

Yes. 27 hours with the same physician should give you enough time to actually have an experience worth writing about.

theking101

@i_wanna_be_Brown: If 27 hours of shadowing is not enough, how many do you suggest having? I thought that its not the hours that counted, but what you gained from the experience.

kristin5792

It's definitely the experience that counts, not the number of hours, so you're right about that. But it's unlikely you'll have a meaningful enough experience in just 27 hours to know for sure that medicine is right for you--and that's one of the big purposes of shadowing. Also, if you're always working with the same doc, then you're not really gaining exposure to the whole field--rather, just that specialty.

27h is a great chunk of time to spend with one doc, and will probably be enough for you to have a good idea of what she does. At a minimum, I'd shoot for having at least 3 experiences around 20-30h each, preferably in different fields. (An internal medicine specialty, a surgical specialty, and some kind of generalist (peds or adults) would be a nice mix in my opinion.) Ideally, shadowing won't be something you do just so you can say you did it; it should be an opportunity for you to explore this field and for you to get to know doctors with careers you may like to model yours after. There's a great chance that you'll enjoy shadowing this doc so much that you'll make time to stay later, or you'll find time to come in during breaks, or you'll ask her about colleagues to shadow later, etc. If it's a huge pain in the neck or thorn in your side, that could be a pretty useful piece of information--are you sure this is what you want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours learning about?

cortana431

Thanks, I had a great experience today and learned a lot. It was my first time and the doctor I was with is a general practitioner at a clinic so I will definitely look into shadowing doctors in other specialties.