Dont know wat to do! Please HELP

[DrKloudN9Ne]

Hi,

I am a Biology major in my sophmore year and I just recently made up my mind to go the Physician Assistant route before heading to Medical School. The PA program should help with me getting tons of on the job experience. The only thing Im a little scared about is the GRE, because this is a Masters program and I'll be going into it hopefuly next year (junior year).
So one requirement that I dont have is the 300 hours of shadowing!! I actually work at a hospital, but in the Media Services Department, where i see absolutely no doctors (except when I want to go to the cafeteria ;))
Im so scared to call/email/approach a doctor and ask to shadow them.
How should I go about doing that?

Thanks!!

[gumby]

Hi,

I am a Biology major in my sophmore year and I just recently made up my mind to go the Physician Assistant route before heading to Medical School. The PA program should help with me getting tons of on the job experience. The only thing Im a little scared about is the GRE, because this is a Masters program and I'll be going into it hopefuly next year (junior year).
So one requirement that I dont have is the 300 hours of shadowing!! I actually work at a hospital, but in the Media Services Department, where i see absolutely no doctors (except when I want to go to the cafeteria ;))
Im so scared to call/email/approach a doctor and ask to shadow them.
How should I go about doing that?

Thanks!!

My first question is why you have decided to go to PA school before going to medical school. If you know you want to go to medical school, why add another 2+ years to an already long process?

As far as shadowing a doctor goes, just walk up to one and tell them you want to go into medicine and would like to shadow a doctor. They will either tell you yes, you can shadow me, no, you can't shadow me, or, I can't do it now but I have a friend/colleague that might. They are human beings (well, most of them) and are nothing to be afraid of. And if you want to go into medicine like you say, you better get over your fears, because there is no room for it once you start. One other approach you could use is to contact the secretary for one of the department heads and ask them if they know of anyone willing to take on an observer for shadowing.

[DrKloudN9Ne]

Thank you!! ONe of the main reasons I want to do PA first is so that I can start making money and help out my mom, also to get on the job experience so that in medical school I can have real world expericenes to go along with things discussed in school.
About the fear issue, I will get over it... I just have butterflies!!

[tegraphile]

That is a very unselfish reason to start out as a PA. I would say one caveat is that once you go to school, take out the money to attend, and then start working, it will be harder to get the time/money/motivation to go back to school for another 4 years. I would suggest taking the loans and starting medical school (if that is your ultimate career path) and get started as soon as possible. It will be tough for a couple of years, but hopefully it will pay off in the long run.

If you're afraid to speak to a physician directly, I agree with gumby. Talk to HR or a department head and see if they can get ahold of someone for you. My experience at a teaching hospital is that you'll need to go through some administrative stuff before you can begin shadowing. Also, when it comes time to asking for letters of recommendation, you'll be in the hospital system in case you need your hours shadowed verified.