Summer shadowing at the Trauma Center
by Alle Machiesky, UMD pre-med student
1. Can you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is alle machiesky and I am a rising sophomore at the university of maryland. I am majoring in Biology: Neurobiology and physiology, and pursuing a dual degree in Psych. I am premed and currently interested in all parts of medicine.
2. Before Shado-MD, what challenges did you face when trying to find physician shadowing opportunities?
Many hospitals require you to get approval from a specific physician to shadow. As a first generation pre-med student I have no connections to any physicians, making this extremely difficult.
3. How did you first hear about Shado-MD?
I heard about shaDO-MD through my Schools newsletter.
4. What specialty or specialties did you shadow through Shado-MD?
Shock trauma, specifically ortho.
5. Describe your shadowing day.
I was assigned a resident doctor for the morning, I watched him splint a wrist and ankle injury. They were very traumatic injury’s so the process was aggressive and he had to be super innovative with his approach. It was awesome the way he was able to maneuver the bones from the outside.
I then was moved to the operating room where I watched them perform an Open Reduction and Internal Fixation on the humerus. It was so interesting and I learned so much about how the operating room works.
6. What did you learn from shadowing that you couldn’t have learned in a classroom?
I got to see directly how the different ranks worked together in medicine (medical student, newer resident, senior resident, fellow and attending). I also got to see how much the surgeons enjoyed their jobs and how extremely knowledgeable they were.
7. Did your experience help confirm or change your interest in medicine or a particular specialty? How?
Definitely helped further confirm my interest in medicine and possibly the surgical side of it.
