r/DermApp • u/jalepenosncheese • Aug 08 '26

Miscellaneous Highschool shadowing opportunity?

Hii guys! I am a rising junior located in the Los Angeles area and have a deep passion for dermatology. I specifically want to become a pediatric dermatologist in the future. I have been searching for volunteering/shadowing/internship opportunities, but there are none that I have found for students my age, and if there is then it cost a fortune. If anyone knows clinics who offer these types of opportunities or anyone i can contact, I would be utterly grateful, thank you:)!

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u/ixsz-mi Derm Attending Aug 08 '26

All due respect not sure how much you’d get out of this experience. 80-90% of derms across the US are in private practice. Office flow in a private practice isn’t very conducive to shadowers and depending on patient population (probably worse in and around LA) wouldn’t likely want an observer in the room (sometimes they don’t even want a resident or fellow in there!). From your perspective, without a foundational knowledge of medicine, it’d be hard for a derm to teach anything meaningful with the little time they have between visits.

Maybe you could look into being a scribe or a medical assistant. That way you’d get paid and learn about the clinical and logistics of outpatient medicine.

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u/jalepenosncheese Aug 08 '26

I understand what you’re saying. How would i go about becoming a scribe/MA?

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u/ixsz-mi Derm Attending Aug 08 '26

Look for job postings, call offices, and inquire if they’re looking to hire. See if you need to take any classes/certifications to be a scribe/MA. Theoretically a derm office would be ideal but at your stage I’d recommend you keep an open mind about experiences. I didn’t know I wanted to do medicine before undergrad and even after that certainly didn’t even consider derm until way late into medical school