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Shadowing opportunities can be nearly impossible to get


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I live in Boston, known for its many hospitals. It shouldn't be so hard to obtain shadowing experiences, right? The huge number of hospitals, 5 PA schools, and massive number of colleges/universities in the area should make it easy. Right? Wrong.

 

So many of the hospitals/clinics have a blanket "NO SHADOWING" policy. Here's my shortlist:

 

St Elizabeth- no shadowing
Cambridge Health Alliance (Cambridge Hosp & Somerville Hosp)- no shadowing
Mass General Hospital- no shadowing
Brigham & Women's Hospital- 8 hours max
Mt. Auburn Hospital- waiting to hear back
Tufts- waiting to hear back
Beth Israel DMC- waiting to hear back

 

All of these hospitals are "teaching hospitals" and pride themselves on educating the next generation of clinicians.  I've been told by other sources at the last three (Mt. Auburn, Tufts, and BIDMC) similarly do not permit shadowing. My current option is to go out further and further. There is one hospital about 50 miles to the north that is willing to have PA shadows, but that seems crazy to have to go so far. All of the hospitals with a 'no shadowing' policy say "sorry" when asked where I might go. They acknowledge it's a problem (especially when one is applying to PA schools that require a certain number of PA shadowing hours). Unfortunately, nearly all of the doctors offices in this area are owned by the hospitals so it's not possible to ask them directly as they must abide by the hospital's policies.

 

I am open to suggestions and ideas anyone might have. I am also interested in how people have navigated this problem in the past.

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Call the clinic at Hanscom AFB and see if there are any PA's assigned to the clinic (there should be).  Ask if you could speak to one see if they would be willing to have you shadow.  Military PAs tend to be very student friendly.  Explain your situation....worst they can do is say no. 

 

Google the base site...call base operator for the number to Family Practice.

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I agree that finding PAs to shadow are difficult in bigger cities. Most of the large cities are within a large hospital system and tend to have strict policies. I found that going outside of my big city was successful and finding smaller, family owned clinics (as suggested above). Yes, it was a bit of a drive..maybe even up to an hour, but it proved fruitful.

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Call the clinic at Hanscom AFB and see if there are any PA's assigned to the clinic (there should be).  Ask if you could speak to one see if they would be willing to have you shadow.  Military PAs tend to be very student friendly.  Explain your situation....worst they can do is say no. 

 

Google the base site...call base operator for the number to Family Practice.

Their main PA is on deployment and the 2 others they have are in their own period of shadowing/transition. According to the administrator they can't take any shadows until January 2014. Thank you, however, for the suggestion.

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I was in a similar situation when I was living in Mississippi. Down there, the hospitals were private I think so they didn't want you there shadowing because of liability issues. The only way you could shadow is if you were already part of a program (in which case, why the heck would you be shadowing??? I felt like asking) because then the program you were in was responsible for you if you got hurt. 

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I was in a similar situation when I was living in Mississippi. Down there, the hospitals were private I think so they didn't want you there shadowing because of liability issues. The only way you could shadow is if you were already part of a program (in which case, why the heck would you be shadowing??? I felt like asking) because then the program you were in was responsible for you if you got hurt. 

Exactly my point. Why would I seek out shadowing (as opposed to a supervised internship/clerkship) if I was already in a program? I've heard this so many times.

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OP, judging by your avatar, you frequent ERs I hope. You haven't befriended any PAs there? Most understand that shadowing/letters are just a formality. I had a PA I met write me a nice LoR even though I couldn't shadow him at his hospital (private hospitals are crap if you ask me). Try all your options and cold call doctors' offices if you have to.

 

 

 

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OP, judging by your avatar, you frequent ERs I hope. You haven't befriended any PAs there? Most understand that shadowing/letters are just a formality. I had a PA I met write me a nice LoR even though I couldn't shadow him at his hospital (private hospitals are crap if you ask me). Try all your options and cold call doctors' offices if you have to.

I have befriended them, but the hospitals have a blanket policy against shadowing unless you are already in a PA program, yet I need a certain number of PA shadowing hours in order to be accepted into those programs....catch 22. I've tried cold calling doctors' offices, but around here they are all owned by the hospital systems, which all have the no shadowing policy.

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Bstone, are the programs that you are interested in require PA hours as a mandatory part of the application? At the time of my Caspa submission, I had 0 hours and I applied to 5 schools and all suggested shadowing and valued it. I interviewed at 2 of the 5 so far. Maybe you can spin the experiences around the PAs and MDs in the ER as a positive learning experience as opposed to focusing on the shadowing, if it is proving to be near impossible.

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Bstone, are the programs that you are interested in require PA hours as a mandatory part of the application? At the time of my Caspa submission, I had 0 hours and I applied to 5 schools and all suggested shadowing and valued it. I interviewed at 2 of the 5 so far. Maybe you can spin the experiences around the PAs and MDs in the ER as a positive learning experience as opposed to focusing on the shadowing, if it is proving to be near impossible.

Yes, several of them have a required number of shadowing hours. Without the PAs you shadowed filling out forms and evaluations your application is considered incomplete.

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It took me about 8 months to find someone. What finally worked was emailing the PA organizations in my area every month. After three months of that I got an opportunity to shadow a PA in a private practice. Got to scrub in on surgeries and spent 40 hrs with this surgical PA. Drove 1.5 hr everyday and paid to park in a garage. At the end the PA wrote me a LOR and we still stay in touch. Bottom line is dont give up and be willing to travel even if its a hassle because the end result is worth it.

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My shadowing experiences were typically in small offices or managed care clinics, and came via my personal network.  One I obtained through work.  Another was through a neighbor who is an MD (shadowing physicians is almost as valuable).  I also put out a message on my Facebook account, asking for people to volunteer their connections.  I never cold called a clinic or a hospital. 

 

Also, some hospitals may allow people who volunteer regularly to shadow their physician assistants.  Check into that.  It was offered to me when I was training to volunteer at a hospital here in Seattle.  As a plus, the volunteer experience will bolster your application.  Good luck.

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