Honors College Fellow Duru Erkan is a senior majoring in biology and French, and plans to pursue a career in medicine. To prepare, she’s been shadowing doctors in different fields – an excellent way to strengthen your med school application and to see if a specialty is a good fit.
Shadowing is like dating. Every different “date” that you go on, you get to see what you like and what you don’t like about a certain medical specialty. For example, I shadowed a cardiologist last winter, and although that experience was full of excitement and risks, it was also exhausting. The field was pleasurable for the moment, but I couldn’t see myself spending the rest of my life practicing it. Now I’m back in the game and trying things out with dermatology. It’s certainly different, and so far, I’m enjoying my time in the clinic.
In this photo, a dermatologist uses a dematoscope to assess a possible melanoma. Photo: iStock by Getty Images.
Before I started shadowing at Ozark Dermatology, my impression of the specialty was that I would see grapefruit-sized cysts be removed and dime-sized blackheads be squeezed out because that’s what I would see on Dr. Pimple Popper’s Instagram page. And while regular dermatologists do conduct surgeries and encounter unusual things every day, it turns out that the routine of a regular dermatologist is much more standard than Dr. Pimple Popper’s. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve seen a squamous cell tumor the size of a petri dish be removed from someone’s arm. But that was one very unique occasion in the midst of everyday full-body skin checks, small biopsies, visual examinations, and allergy tests. The quotidian work of a non-famous dermatologist is less dramatic, yet it still keeps you on your toes. Everything that you need to treat is visible—which I personally love—and there’s equal parts of interacting with patients and performing surgeries. Through shadowing, I’ve learned a lot about a specialty I was previously interested in and also realized that I want to genuinely consider it as future a career path.
To begin the process of shadowing all you have to do is 1) be interested and 2) make calls. Knowing a physician personally or being a patient at an institution always helps the search process, but if you have absolutely no connections, it’s no big deal. Call clinics and hospitals that you are interested in shadowing at and ask if they are letting pre-med students observe physicians. Through contacting multiple establishments, you are guaranteed to land at least one position. If you are uncomfortable with being in a medical environment due to the ongoing pandemic, there are also lots of online shadowing experiences that are one Google search away! Different schools and healthcare institutions have virtual shadowing programs where physicians take students along their day on Zoom or other such platforms. Medical schools and hospitals are aware that pre-med students should have clinical hours, so they want to make sure that you get the experience you want or need one way or another.
The point is, start dating. Date multiple specialties. That’s the only way you can know what you like and how you see your future. For example, if you’re on a “date” and you’re just watching time crawl by as you plan what you’re going to have for dinner, then maybe try pursuing something else. Don’t forget that going on extended “dates” with multiple fields is also a great way to show medical school admissions that you’re serious about what you want. Shadowing allows you to get clinical exposure and to learn about medical practice even before you begin medical school. There are plenty of fish in the sea; explore your options.