96 Hour “Cold Call” Challenge – Physician Shadowing

Posted by Ben Frederick M.D. on Jun 4, 2014

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A step-by-step guide to securing a shadowing opportunity by phone.

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Resistance to Cold Calling

Take a moment right now and think about calling a physicians office. Do you feel that pit in your stomach? That’s resistance. Few methods of prospecting for shadowing opportunities are more cringe inducing than a cold call.

It’s uncomfortable to ask a favor of someone you’ve never met and can’t even see.

We could probably accomplish the same results with email. But we aren’t going to use email, because this post is not a part of the Socially Awkward Premed Series.

The whole point of this challenge (other than adding a few shadowing hours to your resume) is to force you outside of your comfort zone. It’ll serve you well in the future and make your life SOOO much easier.

Remember, you’re going to have to stick your finger up some butts. Get used to it…

This method is not as effective as developing a relationship over time. But there is nothing more effective when you’re looking for a quick score.

And a quick score is what we are looking for in this 96 hour challenge. A quick score for your resume, and more importantly a quick score for your self confidence.

Day 1

Action Plan #1

Since this is the first 24 hours of the “Cold Call Challenge”, I’ve decided to take it easy on you.

Here’s what we are going to do TODAY (this means before you go to sleep):

Make a 3 Week Schedule Understand HIPAA?

Make a 2 Week Schedule.

Most clinic shifts are divided into morning and afternoon. Usually 8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm. Some physicians will work one shift. Some physicians will work both. There may be some odd 10am-3pm or “after hours” shifts, but morning and afternoon are the shifts you will most likely be offered for shadowing.

It’s important to know what times you will be available, before you start calling clinics. I want you to download and print this blank calendar page. Then fill in the dates for the next 3 weeks and draw a line in each box splitting the weekdays into morning and afternoon.

Now look at your obligations for the next 3 weeks and mark an X through the shifts that you absolutely cannot take. Make any notes of special circumstances on the right side of the page.

Don’t go too crazy. You need some flexibility in your schedule to make sure it will fit with the clinic schedule. If you have to cancel the standing lunch date with your BFF, just do it. She’ll understand.

Once you’ve finished your calendar, hold onto it. We’ll be using it again in action plan #3.

Understand HIPAA

HIPAA stands for “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.” It’s purpose is to ensure the security and privacy of a patient’s personal information.

Why do you care?

You care because patient privacy is important AND because clinics take HIPAA and patient privacy very seriously. Some office managers and physicians may use HIPAA as an excuse to deny you the opportunity to shadow in their clinic.

Ultimately, it’s their decision to allow or deny you the chance to shadow. But if you’re faced with a HIPAA stonewall, your best chance is to reassure the clinic “gatekeeper” that you are well aware of HIPAA regulations and plan to follow them.

That’s why I want you to take 23 minutes and 29 seconds to watch this HIPPA primer offered by medscape.

Medscape HIPAA Primer

It’s meant for physicians and other healthcare providers. So you’ll get a taste of what it’s like in the big leagues.

You can even get a printable HIPAA training certificate online if you want to offer hard evidence of your knowledge. But it will cost 15-$30.

http://www.hipaatraining.com/

http://www.mymedcerts.com/hipaa.cfm

http://www.hipaaexams.com/hipaa-training-advanced.asp

Day 2

Action Plan #2

Today’s action plan consists of two simple steps.

Identify 3 Clinics in Your Area Gather Contact & General Information

Clinics vs Hospitals

You may be wondering why we’re targeting clinics instead of hospitals. Both of these entities potentially offer great experiences. Some hospitals even have volunteer/shadowing programs that you can participate in. However, hospital based shadowing is also likely to involve more red tape with things like HIPAA and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).

Clinics that are not closely affiliated with a hospital will have more autonomy and hopefully less bureaucratic nonsense to navigate.

Clinic Type Matters

You may be thinking of choosing a clinic randomly out of the phone book. That might work, but certain types of clinics will yield better results than others. Physicians understand their patient population pretty well. They’ll know which if their patients will be open to a shadowing student and which patients will not. You’ll want to avoid clinics that deal with a lot of sensitive and embarrassing problems.

Specialties to avoid for this challenge:

Obstetrics

Gynecology

Psychiatry

Urology

Also of note, certain family medicine clinics will be heavy on women’s health. Because I want you to be successful, we are going to focus on Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.

There are 2 reasons for this:

People are rarely embarrassed to discuss their shoulder pain or elbow fracture. Orthopedic physicians tend to practice in groups, which will increases your odds of success.

Locating Clinics in Your Area

Head over to Google Maps and search for orthopedic clinics in your area. In my case I’ll search for “orthopedic clinics, Columbia MO”. You should get a list of potential candidates.

Here are some tips to narrow it down.

1. Try to find a clinic that has multiple physicians. Look for the words “group”, “center”, or “institute”.

2. Choose independent clinics over hospital or university owned clinics. The decision makers are more likely to be there when you call.

3. If possible, choose a clinic with a website. It’s always nice to do a little research before you call. They may even have a shadowing policy on the site.

When you find a good candidate, spend some time browsing the site. Familiarize yourself with the different specialties and write down the following information.

Clinic Name

Phone Number

Hours of Operation

Address

Website

URL

Office Manager (if available)

Physician & specialty you are most interested in shadowing

If they don’t have a website, just write down the information you do have. You could even call and ask the receptionist about their hours and specialties offered.

We’ll be using this information in Action Plan #3 to formulate our “Cold Call” script.

Day 3 & 4

Action Plan #3

Are you ready for your final action plan in the “Cold Call” Challenge? By now you should have done the following:

Created a 3 week schedule

Familiarized yourself with HIPAA

Identified atleast 3 clinics in your area that are good targets for shadowing

Now it’s time for the cold calls.

The Cold Calls.

Making unanticipated cold calls may be nerve wracking, but it’s really quite simple. I’ll give you a detailed script, but let’s first going over the basics.

Introduce yourself and ask to speak to a “decision maker”. Make your request clear and personal. Be persistent.

Read on for details and grab the complete script right here:

Cold Call Challenge Script PDF

Introduce Yourself & Ask to Speak to a “Decision Maker.”

Context is king. Clinic receptionists get dozens (probably more) of phone calls a day from all sorts of people: patients, potential patients, physicians, hospitals, telemarketers, and now premed students. That’s why placing your conversation in the right context is so important.

Imagine this phone conversation:

Hello, this is Break Bone Orthopedic Clinic. How can I help you. Hi, I’m Ben. I would like to follow one of your doctors around. Maybe just for a day or two. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything or tell any patient secrets. Oh, I see…. “Dr. Smith, the psych patients are prank calling us again. I mean, I think it’s a prank…”

That’s not exactly the response we are looking for. Not enought time was spent putting the conversation in context. Furthermore, this wasn’t really a conversation. It was more of a monologue. This is the introduction I like to use in my scripts.

Hello, this is Break Bone Orthopedic Clinic. How can I help you? Hi, my name is Ben. I’m a premedical student at the University of Missouri. How are you today? Hi Ben. I’m doing well. What can I do for you? I was hoping to speak with the office manager about the possibility of shadowing one of the physicians at your clinic. Oh, sure. Let me see if she’s in.

Remember, the introduction is your foundation. You must build that foundation with each new person you speak with before you move on with the conversation.

Make Your Request Clear & Personal.

Once you get connected to the “Decision Maker” of the clinic, make sure to lay the foundation once again with your introduction.

But then move to the next level.

Be more detailed this time.

Hi, my name is Ben. I’m a premedical student at the University of Missouri. How are you today? Hi Ben, I’m doing well. What can I do for you? Well, I’ve been searching for opportunities to shadow physicians around town and I’m really interested in orthopedics. Do you think any of your physicians would consider allowing me to join them one morning or afternooon in their clinic? It would really mean a lot to me. Hmmm…. Dr. Smith sometimes takes on premed students. Let me ask him. Hold on.

By using words like “consider”, “allowing”, and “mean a lot” you are making a plea for help and not a demand. We all feel good when we help somebody in need and office managers are no different.

Be Persistent.

In ideal world, everything would go smoothly without any difficulties. But this is not an ideal world. It can be much easier for people to say no to your request.

You can expect roadblocks. Don’t worry, these aren’t tire spiking police road blocks. No, many of these road blocks can be sidestepped or even bashed head on.

Here are some potential roadblocks you may face and some possible rebuttals:

We don’t like to take on premed students because of HIPAA. I certainly understand that concern. I know that patient privacy and security is important. I went through the Medscape HIPAA training just a couple days ago to make sure I was up to date. I’d be happy to sign any paperwork or go through any of your own courses if needed. Our patients don’t really like having students in clinic and they may not want you to come in. Yes, that seems like a reasonable request. I’d be happy to wait outside the room for any and all patients who would prefere not to have a student in the room. I don’t know, we don’t really do that sort of thing. Is there anything I can do to change your mind? I’ll bring donuts! We don’t allow shadowing at our clinic. If you don’t mind me asking, why not? It’s simply against our policy. I’m sorry to hear that. Can you think of a physician there that may allow me to shadow them in a different setting, like the hospital or a different clinic? I would really appreciate any help you could provide.

CALL, CALL, CALL!

So that’s it. Make sure you pick up the script and look through it. You can read it word for word on the phone or just use it as an outline.

Cold Call Challenge Script PDF

I really want to hear your success stories and even any failure stories, so I can make this guide even better. Please leave your comments in the blog post.

Now go get to work!

P.S. – I’d really like to hear how your converstions go. If anyone wants super-bonus points, download an app named “Call Recorder” and use it to record you conversation.

P.P.S – Currently (6/5/2014), 12 states require the consent of all parties involved in a particular conversation otherwise, you don’t have to tell anyone: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington.