 All right, what's up you guys? So I've been getting this question asked because it's, you know, application time. Anthony, get out of the video. I'm gonna keep that in. Oh my gosh. Anyways, what's up you guys? It's Anana. Welcome back to my channel. So the question that has been getting asked a lot is how do you get shadowing hours? And I know that with like the onset of COVID and, you know, the shutdown of everything that shadowing inpatient has been difficult. And so I wanted to give you guys kind of like two tips that I typically suggest so that you guys can get shadowing hours. And hopefully this helps. So if you're interested in obtaining shadowing hours because you've been having a difficult time doing so, this video is for you. Now, not every PA school, not every PA program is requiring shadowing hours. There are several programs that are just recommending it because they understand the struggle of getting a PA to shadow. And so that's really a benefit, but also a benefit is if you do have the shadowing hours for these schools that just recommend it because that shows that you were able to actually like be a part or experience the career that you're trying to get into. And so you know a little bit more about what the providers in that particular career do on a consistent basis, okay? So with that being said, my first thing, like my first option for you guys is obviously social media. And now you can do this through like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, all the various different social media sites, Facebook, you will find lots of PAs on these various different platforms, promoting like the PA profession, advocating for us, as well as talking about what they do on a consistent basis in their particular field or specialty. Now with that being said, this is where you and your legwork and your work kind of has to come into grind and kick into like full throttle and all these little analogies that I'm using. But honestly, this is really where the rubber meets the rug. All right guys, I'm done with the puns, but honestly, this is where you really have to kind of do it, you know, you just gotta do it. And so what I mean by that is you have to reach out, you have to ask them, hey, does your facility, your office space, does your job allow students to shadow? I know that sounds a little weird or it sounds like, oh my gosh, it's a little bit intrusive, but it's all a matter of the way that it's done, right? And remember, it's not always what you say. A lot of times it's how you say it, okay? Now my husband and like he does, he makes movies and people are consistently emailing him and DMing him and saying like, hey, you know, I wanna be in a movie. Remember me the next time you're doing a movie or think about me the next time you're doing a movie. And it's like, what? Think about you? Like sir, ma'am, I've never thought about you a day in my life. Like I'm barely thinking about you right now. I don't know you, right? So you saying, think about me, remember me, you know, when I do another movie in a year makes no sense. And it's the same thing when you're applying to PA school. It makes no sense to just be like, hey, I wanna be a PA, can I shadow you? No, that's not how this works, you know? Like give a little bit of backstory, give a little bit of background. Yes, it is a little bit, I guess you could say forward, but you know, fortune favors the bold. You have to kinda just go forward and do the things that you may feel uncomfortable doing so that you can get the results that you want. And so when you are reaching out to these PAs, I should suggest that you almost give like a little bit of a personal statement and keep it short, but at the same time, give like a little bit of backstory. Maybe the schools that you're applying to and why you want to shadow them or this particular specialty and with respect to whatever specialty that person works in because that will allow them to get like a little bit of an assemblance of who you are and just be like more on board to be like, oh, okay, yeah. Like I would love to allow this person to shadow because a lot of the times it's not a matter of I don't want anybody shadowing. It's a matter of I can't have you shadow. And that's why my second tip for you guys is to try and get into areas that are not like in a big hospital system, more so look at your outpatient settings, your office settings, your smaller clinic settings because they are a little bit more willing and more able and they have more leeway in allowing students to come in. There are several PAs that own their own practices, reach out to them on social media, but at the same time, if they own their own practice and it's a smaller practice, you may be able to actually be like, oh, okay. Hey, you know, am I able to shadow at your practice? And since they're the ones that own it, they have a lot more say in the yes versus the no. When you're looking at places to shadow if you've ever been to an urgent care or if you've seen urgent cares around that are a little bit more like, it's like kind of like your mom and pop. I guess, you know, there's only one of that urgent care. You can go into that urgent care with like a little resume or a little personal statement and ask them, hey, you know, do you guys have PAs at work here? And if they do, you can ask to meet with the PA or ask to leave something for the PA. And I would suggest leaving like a little thank you note for them giving you the time of day in terms of reading whatever it is you're leaving for them and then leave that personal statement or that resume with the request to possibly shadow. And then follow up, but don't be a pest about it. And that is like also a thing. So for me, I think the main things that you have to do is be bold, you know, if you have to travel to California or Texas or wherever it is, the four corners of the United States to get somebody to shadow, then do that, especially if your school is requiring it. Something to kind of look into is just like a little bit of information for you, but something that you can look into is actually looking at the schools that may allow virtual shadowing because there are programs that will accept virtual shadowing. So that is an option. And we do offer virtual shadowing on getthatsouniversity.com. So go ahead and check us out. But there are programs that allow that. And since there are programs that allow virtual shadowing, that might be an option for you. If the programs that you are applying to require you to actually have shadowing hours, then maybe that program might not be for you. You're gonna have to kind of cherry-pick and tailor-make these applications and the programs that you're applying to your particular prerequisite requirements. So the requirements that you already have or are willing and able to obtain. Because at the end of the day, you wanna make yourself the best possible applicant you can be and you wanna put the best you forward. So my tips, again, my two tips are to reach out on social media, make sure that it's very much about you in terms of you're giving them some information about who you are and why you would like to shadow them and why you would like to shadow that particular specialty. And then on the flip side, you do that in kind of real life. You go to the urgent cares and the office spaces that you see in your neighborhood and the area that isn't a good mile radius to where you live. And you apply and then be bold in terms of kind of getting outside of your comfort zone and actually lying or driving to areas where a PA is willing to allow you to shadow, but it may not necessarily be close to home, okay? So hopefully this helps. I hope that you guys can get the shadowing hours again. Go to your Instagrams and your YouTube and your TikToks and find these PAs and reach out in a very good, very professional manner and see what happens, you know? Let me know and let me know if any of these tips work for you as well. All right, thank you guys so much for this question. If you have any other questions for me, leave them in the comment section below if you haven't already done so, go ahead and like this video, subscribe to my channel at Adana the PA and follow me on Instagram at Adana the PA and on Instagram I get that to University where we help you not only get into the through PA school. Thank you guys so much for watching. I'll talk to you guys next time. Bye.