Adomke Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I am unsure how to approach finding a local PA to shadow. My local hospital network has a comprehensive list of all PAs. How did you ask people to allow you to shadow them? Any advice? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMPA Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I'd contact a few of the local hospital network PA's via both email and phone call. Just be honest for your reasons to shadow them. For example, just tell them that you'd like to shadow them to get a better idea of what the PA profession is like in real life. If you're interested in applying to PA school, let them know that too. It's very important to shadow a couple of PA's in different specialties before committing to the idea of becoming one. Also, if you're unable to shadow any of the hospital PA's don't become discouraged, try local clinics and practices, more times than not (from my experience) it's easier to get in contact with them and get the process started for shadowing etc. Hope this helps! mlmpa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaSipe Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Hi, I just Googled small clinics that had PAs around my area. I brain washed myself into cold calling and said "my name is blah blah.... I'm interested in becoming PA, I was wondering if your office ever takes students to shadow PAs." or something along those lines... I got lucky by the 3rd call. Do it :). The worse they can say is nope! (Plus the don't know u). I personally don't recommend email because people are more likely to ignore an email. Good luck :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CByersPAC Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Well done, NenaSipe! I completely agree with doing it by phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medmeg Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Yeah, in my experience cold calling is best if you don't have any other contact with PAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyM2 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 These are good suggestions but the best thing is a personal contact or introduction. Do any of your doctors have or know PAs? What about your friends? Do they see Drs who have PAs in their practice? Do you know anybody with a friend or family member who is a PA? Ask around, you may be surprised. Here is how my daughter found her three shadow opportunities: 1. It turned out that my son's best friend's mother had been a PA and was happy to introduce my daughter to a derm PA she had gone to school with. 2. While my daughter was working as a scribe she learned that one of the ER docs was married to a practicing cardiology PA. 3. A small clinic a few blocks from our house kept advertising their PA. Since then we have discovered that the dermatology practice we go to has a PA. I usually ask for him because it takes too long to get a doctor appt. If my daughter still needed to shadow, I could get him to agree with no problem. The thing is you have no idea how many PAs you could easily meet by just asking around, unless you live in Nepal or something. We live in a small town. Whenever I tell someone my daughter is studying to be a PA, they invariably tell me about a PA they know either obliquely our directly. Sometimes they live in another state but, frequently, they are close by. Sent from my KFAPWI using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HJK Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Agree for personal contact/ visit over phone. You need to see them as well as they need to see you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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