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Shadowing advice


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Hello all,

 

Tomorrow will be my first shadowing experience in the ED, in fast track. I was lucky get this lined up through a coworker, so I can't help those interested in figuring out how to find shadow opportunities, as yet. I am, however, hoping for myself and for others on this path to get advice on what to expect and what is expected of a shadow. I hope to hear from pre-PAs who have shadowed and from PAs as well.

 

Thank you!

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Hey mlsclm, 

 

In my experience, shadowing opportunities vary greatly depending on where you're shadowing (Hospital, Private Practice, Clinic, etc.) and who you're shadowing. It seems like the latter factor is the most important: I've shadowed in a FP and Ortho office, and my experience has ranged from being completely ignored (i.e. I was literally a shadow for 9 hours - I hated it), to being an active part of the patient-practitioner interaction, able to ask questions both in-room and after the visit, and able to listen with my stethoscope, palpate, and visually inspect suspect areas. The second shadowing experience was so great it turned into a full-time internship, and both the PA and the DO are my primary mentors now. 

 

That's about all I'll say due to how recently I've entered the pre-PA track, but here's a few articles that I highly recommend reading before you shadow, including a list of do's and do-not's:

http://www.mypatraining.com/shadow-a-physician-assistant-the-right-way
http://www.mypatraining.com/ethics-of-shadowing-and-practicing-medicine

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