

Take advantage of this! You might be surprised by what you learn about yourself! However, with virtual shadowing, more specialties become accessible to learn about and engage with. For example, you might think that radiology is simply not your thing, and you might have not wanted to risk spending lots of money and time on pursuing a shadowing opportunity in radiology in person. Virtual opportunities also allow you to explore specialties that you might be less familiar with or interested in.
#VIRTUAL JOB SHADOW REVIEWS HOW TO#
While it’s still too early for you to ponder how to choose your medical specialty, having early exposure to a variety of specialties you are interested in can really help you! How? Virtual shadowing provides you with the opportunity to experience more specialties and more healthcare settings than would be possible to join in person. Virtual shadowing is a wonderful way to overcome these obstacles for any student who is looking to fulfill the requirement and gain quality experience from professionals all over the world! Not only is this a big expenditure, but it is also a big strain on the student’s schedule. If you are a Canadian applicant looking to pursue medical education in one of the Canadian-friendly US medical schools, you can stop stressing about organizing your shadowing experiences years before you apply! In Canada, shadowing is not a medical school requirement, so Canadians who want to apply in the US have to plan their shadowing years in advance and travel to the United States for prolonged periods of time to fulfill this requirement. You can join specialists outside of your town, city, or state in a different time zone, so you can learn when it’s convenient for you!

With the abundance of virtual shadowing opportunities, you can choose which of them are most suitable for your academic/extracurricular/work schedule and plan them appropriately. You are not limited to a geographical location or even a schedule. Virtual shadowing provides more opportunities.

Shadowing and early clinical experiences have a great effect on students' reasons for why they want to become a doctor, so you should know what you are getting into if you choose to do your shadowing virtually. Remember, it’s up to you how you want to learn and experience the medical profession before you apply. Now that you know what virtual shadowing entails, let’s discuss some of its pros and cons. Why You Should Participate in Virtual Shadowing If you are wondering how to ask to shadow a doctor, the good news is that the process remains completely the same! More and more physicians offer telehealth, so reach out to them via email and explain that you are a premed looking to gain some shadowing experience in their field.Ĭheck out how you can ask to shadowing a doctor: The only difference is that instead of being present in the room with the physician, you will be watching all this on your computer’s monitor. Whether the session is recorded or live, you will still learn about fascinating patient cases, listen to patient interviews, observe history-taking, physical examinations, CT/MRI/ultrasound reviews, and so on. Both have pros and cons, but generally speaking, the activity of shadowing on the part of the student remains the same – just like during an in-person shadowing scenario, you will be a passive observer. Both are absolutely valid ways to learn from professionals in your field. Most virtual shadowing opportunities are either pre-recorded or live. But how does this affect future physicians? How can you learn by shadowing a physician remotely? In fact, many patients and healthcare workers welcome this development. With the advancements in telehealth, the provision of healthcare via telecommunication technologies has become more common and accepted. Some of you might be surprised to hear that virtual shadowing and in-person shadowing are quite similar.
