Observers & pre-health students
For pre-med, pre-PA, pre-nursing and pharmacy students observing in clinic. Your goal here is informed career insight, not clinical skill — and that is a legitimate goal worth doing well.
Why this rotation is different
Most of your training happens in settings built around acute illness: a problem appears, gets treated, and resolves. Endocrinology is largely the opposite. Our patients have conditions they will live with for decades, managed through hundreds of small decisions made mostly by the patient, at home, between visits. The visit is a checkpoint in a long process, not the event where the treating happens.
That changes what good care looks like. Data becomes central — a CGM download is 2,000 data points about someone’s life. Adherence is a diagnosis, not a verdict: when a plan isn’t happening, the clinical question is why. Titration is the skill, not drug choice. And the system — prior authorization, formulary tiers, insulin pricing — determines outcomes as directly as pathophysiology does.
Your objectives
Your goal is informed career insight, not clinical skill. By the end you should be able to:
Your goal is informed career insight, not clinical skill. By the end you should be able to:
- Describe what an endocrinologist actually does in a week, including the non-visit work
- Describe the role of every team member you observed and how a patient moves through the clinic
- Explain, in lay terms, what diabetes, hypothyroidism, and osteoporosis are and why they need long-term follow-up
- Articulate what professionalism and confidentiality looked like in practice, with an example you witnessed
- Answer honestly, for yourself, whether this kind of work appeals to you — and say why
Observers should also review the Clinical Observer & Shadowing Program page, which covers application, required reading, and the letter of recommendation policy.
What you may do
Your scope is set by your training level, not by how confident you feel. An observership is observational: you are a guest in the clinical setting.
| Activity | Observer |
|---|---|
| Observe visits (with consent) | Yes |
| Take a history independently | No |
| Perform physical exam | No |
| Sensitive / chaperoned exam | No |
| Download / interpret CGM & pump data | No |
| Counsel or educate a patient | No |
| Draft a note in the EHR | No |
| Enter orders (pended, unsigned) | No |
| Sign or release any order or result | No |
| In-office procedures (thyroid US, FNA) | No |
| Call patients with results or advice | No |
| Prescribe | No |
⚠ Absolute limits
No observer signs an order, releases a result, prescribes, dispenses or administers medication, or offers medical opinions or advice to a patient at any time. Do not perform any clinical task — including blood pressure or phlebotomy — without explicit permission and supervision from a licensed provider.
Applying, and the letter policy
Application forms, documentation requirements, required reading and our letter of recommendation policy are all on the observer program page. Read it before you email us — in particular, letters require a minimum of 40 hours and demonstrated exceptional performance.
Before your first day
Two things are required of every learner, whatever your level.
1. Read the Rotation HandbookConduct, HIPAA, dress, supervision, documentation, assessment — the rules that apply to everyone. 2. Work through the Patient Education LibraryOur patient education library is the fastest way to get oriented to how this clinic actually practices. 3. Complete the observer requirementsDocumentation, immunizations, and the assigned reading list. Download: HIPAA Confidentiality Agreement (PDF)Print, sign, and bring it with you on your first day. The clinic keeps the signed copy.Questions before you start?
Email the clinic with your name, program, and preferred dates.
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