We recommend that post-baccalaureate pre-health students shadow a minimum of four clinicians for one full day each. Keep a log of your shadowing hours with each clinician so that you can list them accurately on your professional school applications. (Note that physical therapy and dental schools typically have a minimum number of required shadowing hours. If you are applying to physical therapy programs, you will need to have your shadowing hours documented. For all other professions, shadowing hours are reported on the honor system.)
We recommend the following assortment of shadowing experiences:
- Primary care clinician in your desired field
- Medical specialist in your desired field
- Surgical specialist in your desired field
- At least one other type of clinician in a related field
Alternatively, some pre-health students become medical scribes in a hospital's Emergency Department. Several hospitals in the Denver Metro area will provide on-the-job training for medical scribes. As a scribe, your role would be to follow a given physician throughout their shift and document all of their interactions with patients. You generally are partnered with a different physician each day, thereby witnessing many different physicians' approaches to caring for their patients and also seeing how a given physician adapts their approach to different patients.
For more information on shadowing, refer to th¾±²õÌýGuidelines for ShadowingÌý»å´Ç³¦³Ü³¾±ð²Ô³Ù.Ìý