Shadowing 101: A Complete Guide & Toolkit for Pre-Health Students

Finding a physician to shadow can feel surprisingly confusing.

Where do you even start? Do you need connections? Should you email, call, or walk into a clinic? What do you say when you reach out? And once someone finally says yes… what are you actually supposed to do while shadowing?

I had all of these questions when I started, too. That’s why I created Shadowing 101, the resource I wish I had when I was trying to navigate physician shadowing for the first time.

This isn't just a guide explaining what shadowing is. It's a practical step-by-step guide + toolkit designed to walk you through the entire experience, from finding and reaching out to physicians, to preparing for your first day, making the most of your time in the clinic, reflecting on what you learned, and staying connected afterward.

Inside Shadowing 101, you'll get:

• Step-by-step strategies for finding physicians to shadow, even without existing connections
• Guidance for cold outreach, networking, LinkedIn, email, and in-person outreach
• My real cold email example, with annotations explaining why I wrote each part
• Customizable cold outreach, follow-up, and thank-you email templates
• A Shadowing Outreach Tracker to organize your contacts and follow-ups
• A Before Your First Day Checklist so you know exactly what to prepare
• Practical guidance on what to observe, how to interact, what questions to ask, and proper shadowing etiquette
• Guidance for reflecting on your experience and maintaining relationships with physicians
• A printable + digital Shadowing Journal to document your experiences, clinical observations, patient interactions, memorable cases, questions, and reflections

Use the guide before your first shadowing experience, return to it throughout your journey, and use the included tools again and again as you shadow different physicians and specialties. The journal, trackers, logs, and checklists can be printed or downloaded to your iPad/tablet for digital use.

Whether you're a traditional student, career changer, nontraditional pre-med, or simply trying to figure out this process on your own, Shadowing 101 is designed to help you approach shadowing feeling more prepared, organized, and confident. You don't need to have connections. You don't need to have everything figured out. You just need somewhere to start :)