Questions to Ask During an Externship
For students on a short externship: a medical assisting or pharmacy technician clinical placement, a law school externship, or a shadowing week arranged through a college. The questions to ask during an externship are grouped in the order a placement runs: the first days, what you may do hands-on, who signs your hours and evaluation, what to learn before it ends, feedback, and then references, careers and whether the site hires its externs.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
First days
What am I allowed to do on my own here, what needs someone watching, and what is off limits for an extern?
Why ask it
Ask this before anything else, because the lines are drawn by the site, your school's agreement and sometimes the rules where you are, and they differ from one placement to the next. A good answer comes as three short lists. If the reply is 'we'll see as we go', ask for the two or three things you must never do alone and write them down.
What do you expect from an extern in the first week?
Why ask it
Some supervisors want a student watching quietly for days, and others hand over the phones on the first afternoon. Knowing which this is keeps you from looking pushy at one site or passive at another. A supervisor with no answer may be hosting a student for the first time, so offer your school's skills list as a place to start.
Who is my site supervisor, and who do I go to on the days that person is not here?
Why ask it
The name on the school paperwork is often an office manager or a partner you rarely see, while someone else teaches you day to day. Get both names, plus a backup for days off. An extern with nobody to report to tends to stand around, and those hours are hard to account for later.
What does a normal day look like for the person I will be working beside?
Why ask it
The answer shows you when the rush comes, when there is time to ask things, and when to stay out of the way. Listen for the quiet stretch, since that is where your longer questions belong. Having no named person to work beside is worth raising with the supervisor before the first morning is over.
How should I introduce myself to patients, clients or customers?
Why ask it
Sites generally want people to know a student is in the room, and many have set wording for it, sometimes with a badge that says so. Use their exact words every time. Where the staff have no wording to give you, your school coordinator can say what the placement agreement expects, because being taken for a qualified member of staff is a problem for you and for them.
What would you like me to review before my first full day?
Why ask it
Supervisors usually name something small and practical: the common medications on the shelf, the intake form, the kind of filing the office handles most. Reviewing it shows by day two. If they say 'nothing, just show up', ask what the last extern wished they had brushed up on.
Which days and hours do you expect me, and how do I let you know if I am sick or running late?
Why ask it
Agree on the schedule out loud even if the school sent one, since clinics and offices shift their own hours. Then get the actual method: a number to call, a person to text, how early. A missed shift with no message is one of the things supervisors remember when the evaluation form arrives.
What should I wear and bring, and is there anything I should leave at home?
Why ask it
Scrubs in a set color, closed shoes, a badge, a watch with a second hand, business dress for court: each site has its own list, and the school's list may not match it. The second half catches rules on phones, jewelry, nails or bags that nobody thinks to mention until you have broken one.
Is there training or paperwork I have to finish before I can be near patient or client information?
Why ask it
Many sites want a confidentiality form, a privacy module or a conflict check done first, and what is required depends on the site and where it is. A clear answer with a form attached is a good sign. If you are handed access on day one with no mention of any of it, ask your coordinator whether a step was missed.
Will I need my own login, and what can I usefully do while it is being set up?
Why ask it
Access to a records or case system can take days, and on a placement of a few weeks that is a real share of your time. A colleague may kindly offer theirs: many sites forbid sharing logins, so leave it alone until the supervisor has said yes. Observing, stocking and reading paper files all fill the gap well, and it is fair to ask for one of them.
If something goes wrong in front of me, such as a spill, an injury or an upset visitor, what do you want me to do first?
Why ask it
You are after the name of the person to fetch and the one thing not to touch. Sites have their own procedures for exposures, incidents and emergencies, and your school may add a reporting step of its own, so ask both. Hearing it on a calm morning is far better than guessing in the moment.
Hands-on
Which tasks would you like me to watch a few times before I try them?
Why ask it
The answer is a rough training order, and it shows what the site treats as higher risk. Keep a tally of what you have watched so you can say 'I have seen that four times now' when you ask to try. If everything is still watch-only after the first week, ask what would need to happen for that to change.
Could I do the next one while you watch?
Why ask it
Ask right after you have seen a task done, when the steps are fresh and the person is already there to supervise. A no is common and often has nothing to do with you: the patient is anxious, the deadline is tight, the task is outside what externs may do. Take it easily and ask when a better moment would be.
Once you have seen me do something correctly, how will I know I can do it without asking first?
Why ask it
Some supervisors sign a skill off on a checklist, some just say 'you're fine with those now', and some want to be asked every time for the whole placement. Each is workable, but guessing is not. A vague answer is settled by asking which tasks you are cleared for as of today.
My school gave me a list of skills to complete here. Could we go through which ones this site can cover?
Why ask it
Do this in the first few days with the list in your hand. A specialty clinic may never draw blood, a retail pharmacy may never compound, a small firm may never go to trial. Mark the gaps and take them to your coordinator early, while there is still time to arrange another way to complete them.
Who checks my work before it reaches a patient, a client or a file?
Why ask it
There should be a named person and a clear step, whether it is a pharmacist verifying a fill, a clinician reviewing a chart note or an attorney reading a draft. If the honest answer is that nobody checks, do not take it as a compliment. Say you would feel better with a second look, and tell your coordinator.
When more than one person gives me work, whose comes first?
Why ask it
Common in a law office, and at any site where several people share one student. Get a rule from the supervisor in advance, such as 'check with me' or 'court deadlines first', so you are never the one choosing between two senior people. Then tell each person what else you are holding when they hand you something.
What do I say when a patient or client asks me something I am not supposed to answer?
Why ask it
It will happen in the first week: a question about a dose, a test result, whether they have a case. Ask for the site's own sentence and who to hand the person to. If you get a shrug, propose 'Let me get someone who can answer that properly' and see if they agree.
If someone would rather not have a student involved, how do you want me to handle it?
Why ask it
Some people will, and it is no verdict on you. The useful part of the answer is the mechanics: whether you step out, who does the asking, and what you do with the time. Sites that ask on your behalf before you walk in make this much easier, so find out if that is the habit here.
When it gets very busy, where do you want me?
Why ask it
A rush is when externs either become useful or get in the way, and nobody will have time to direct you once it starts. Get a standing instruction in advance: restock, bring people back, answer the phone, stand here and watch. 'Just stay close to me' is a perfectly good answer.
What is there to do during a slow hour that would help the team?
Why ask it
Every site has chores that slip: expired stock to pull, rooms to turn over, files to index, forms to copy. Doing them without being chased is the quickest way to be thought of as one of the staff. Check that the task is one an extern may do, then ask whether it can be logged against anything on your skills list.
What mistake do externs most often make here?
Why ask it
Staff answer this one readily, and the answer is usually a habit and not a gap in knowledge: a phone out at the counter, a label not double-checked, a guess offered where a question was needed. Treat whatever they name as the thing you are being watched for.
Hours and forms
Who signs my hours, and how often would you like me to bring the timesheet?
Why ask it
Weekly is easier on everyone than a stack of sheets on the last day, when the signer has to take your word for three weeks ago. Check that the person signing is someone your school accepts, since some programs ask for a particular title or credential. Photograph each signed sheet before it leaves your hands.
What counts toward my hours here: lunch, orientation, staying late to finish?
Why ask it
The site and the school can each have a rule, and the school's is the one that decides whether you pass. Ask the supervisor how they record it, then confirm with your coordinator in writing. Learning in the final week that breaks were never countable can leave you several shifts short.
If I miss a day, can I make the hours up, and what is the last date you could have me?
Why ask it
Ask before you need it. The site's answer depends on staffing and on how long your badge or agreement runs, and the school's on when grades are due, so there are two dates to learn. A supervisor who says 'we'll work something out' means well, but pin down a day.
Who fills out my evaluation, and have they seen the form my school sends?
Why ask it
The person who evaluates you should be someone who has watched you work. If it turns out to be a manager you met once, ask whether the staff who train you can pass on their view. Showing the form early also lets you see the headings you will be scored under while there is time to work on them.
When is my evaluation due, and does it go back through me or straight to the school?
Why ask it
Late evaluations hold up grades, and the delay lands on you even though the form is on someone else's desk. Offer to send a reminder a week ahead, and ask which address or portal the school's copy should go to. Where there is a midpoint form as well, mention that one now.
My program asks for a weekly journal or reflection. What must stay out of it?
Why ask it
Names are the obvious part. Sites differ on the rest: diagnoses, case facts, anything about a matter still in progress, details about other staff. A law office or clinic that hosts students regularly will have a firm answer. When in doubt, write about what you learned and leave out who it happened to.
What do I need to return, finish or hand over before my last day?
Why ask it
Badges, keys, logins and half-done tasks all need an owner once you are gone. Asking a few days early also reminds the supervisor about your final timesheet and evaluation. A tidy exit is part of what a reference describes later.
Learning
What should I be able to do by my last day that I cannot do today?
Why ask it
This turns a block of hours into a short list of targets, and it works best asked in the first week and again at the midpoint. Strong answers name tasks: take a full set of vitals unprompted, enter a new prescription start to finish, draft a simple motion. If the answer is 'just get comfortable', suggest two targets of your own and ask whether they are realistic.
What do new hires in this role find hardest in their first month?
Why ask it
You are asking about the job you hope to hold a few months from now. The answer is seldom the technical skill your course drills. More often it is pace, phone manner, or keeping track of several things at once. Ask to be put where that pressure is for part of a shift.
Could you talk me through why you did it that way?
Why ask it
Save it for just after the task, not during, and keep your tone curious. You will hear the reasoning the textbook leaves out, and sometimes a plain 'that is how this office does it'. Both help, and the second tells you which habits may not travel to your next site.
Where does the way things are done here differ from what my course taught?
Why ask it
Experienced staff usually know exactly where school and practice part ways, and they tend to enjoy saying so. Note the differences without arguing them on site. Follow the site's way while you are there, and take anything that seems to conflict with your coursework to your instructor.
Which terms, abbreviations or names should I learn first to keep up?
Why ask it
A short list from the staff beats a glossary: the drugs dispensed most often, the shorthand in the chart notes, the forms and courts the office deals with every week. Learn them over a weekend and Monday's conversations move faster. Ask too whether any abbreviation is banned there, since some sites keep such a list.
When you looked that over just now, what were you checking for?
Why ask it
Ask it when someone reviews a chart, a filled order or a draft, yours or anyone's. Reviewers run a mental checklist they rarely say aloud, and hearing it lets you check your own work the same way before you hand it over. Someone who cannot put it into words may simply be rushed, so try again at a quieter time.
Could I spend part of a day with another role here?
Why ask it
The front desk, billing, the lab, the pharmacist's verification station, a paralegal's desk: seeing the work on either side of yours explains a good deal about why your tasks are done as they are. Ask once you are reliable at your own station, and check that time spent elsewhere still counts toward your hours.
Could I sit in on that, and what should I watch for?
Why ask it
For the moments that are not strictly yours: a consult, a counseling session at the pharmacy counter, a client meeting, a hearing. The second half matters as much as the first, because being told what to notice gives an observer a job. Expect some refusals for privacy reasons, and do not ask twice about the same one.
With my certification or licensing exam in mind, what here should I pay closest attention to?
Why ask it
Worth asking only of someone who sat the same exam fairly recently, and those people are often glad to help. They will point to the parts of the daily work that mirror it, and may say how they studied. Treat it as one person's memory of the test, and check the current outline from the body that sets it.
What is one thing I could practice or read at home this week?
Why ask it
Asking for a single thing gets a real answer where 'how can I improve' gets a shrug. Do it, and mention the following week that you did. An extern who comes back having practiced is easy to remember when the evaluation is being written.
Feedback
Could we set aside ten minutes each week to go over how I am doing?
Why ask it
On a clinic floor or in a busy office, feedback rarely happens unless there is a slot for it. Propose a fixed time, such as the end of your last shift each week, and bring your skills list and timesheet so the same sitting covers sign-offs. If a weekly slot is not possible, ask for one proper conversation at the halfway point.
What did I do today that you would correct?
Why ask it
Tying it to today makes it small enough to answer honestly on the spot. Thank them, skip the explanation, and show the fix the next time the task comes around. If you hear 'nothing' several days running, switch to asking what a more experienced person would have done differently.
If you filled out my evaluation today, where would I score lowest?
Why ask it
Best asked around the midpoint with the school's form in front of you both. It gives the supervisor an easy way to name a weak area while the mark can still change. 'You are fine everywhere' is pleasant and not much use, so ask which heading they have seen the least evidence for.
Am I asking too many questions, too few, or at the wrong moments?
Why ask it
Externs worry about this more than supervisors do, and one direct question settles it. The usual reply is about timing: hold questions while a patient or client is present and bring them afterwards. Being told you ask too few is the more serious of the two, because silence from a student can look like overconfidence or lack of interest.
How do I come across to patients or clients?
Why ask it
The staff beside you hear your tone, your pace and the words you reach for when someone is nervous or upset, and you cannot hear those yourself. Ask for one moment they noticed, good or bad, since 'you're fine with people' teaches nothing. A course can barely grade this part of the job, and a site deciding whether to keep a student will have watched it.
What am I still slow at that you would expect to be quicker by this point?
Why ask it
Speed may not appear on the school's form, but a site that is thinking about hiring notices it. Ask for the one task and how long it takes an experienced person. Then ask whether accuracy or pace should come first for now. Most supervisors will say accuracy, and it helps to hear it from them.
When I get something wrong, how do you want to hear about it?
Why ask it
Ask before it happens. The answer to hope for is 'right away, from you', along with who to tell if the supervisor is out. In clinical and pharmacy settings there may be a formal report to complete as well, and your school may want to know, so ask how it works at both ends.
Who else here has seen enough of my work to tell me how it is going?
Why ask it
The supervisor of record may see you for an hour a week, while a medical assistant, a technician or a paralegal watches you all day. Their view is the more detailed one, and it often reaches whoever writes your evaluation anyway. Put the same plain question to them that you would put to the supervisor.
Careers
Does this site ever hire its externs, and what set apart the ones you kept?
Why ask it
Ask once you have a few solid weeks behind you, or in the last days of a short placement. Some sites treat an externship as a tryout and say so. Others host students with no opening in sight, and that is no comment on you. The second half is the valuable part, since it describes what to show for the rest of your time.
Is a position likely to open here, and how would I apply for it?
Why ask it
A follow-up for a site that does hire its students. You want the mechanics: whether to apply online, who makes the decision, whether your certification or license has to be in hand first. A supervisor who offers to put in a word is giving you something real, so follow up within the week.
If there is nothing here, who else nearby takes on people at my level?
Why ask it
Supervisors know the local market: which clinics train new graduates, which pharmacies are short of technicians, which offices take on clerks or first-year associates. Ask whether you may mention their name. If they offer to make a call, thank them and send your resume the same day.
Would you be comfortable acting as a reference, and what would you be able to say about me?
Why ask it
Ask in person before the placement ends, and do ask the second half. It tells you whether the reference would be strong or merely polite, which lets you choose someone else if need be. Find out how they prefer to be contacted as well, since some employers route reference calls through an office that only confirms dates.
On a resume, what can I say I performed here and what should I list as observed?
Why ask it
The supervisor knows the right names for the procedures, systems and case types, and remembers which you did yourself. Keep that line honest. An interviewer who works in the field will ask about anything you list, and 'assisted with' reads very differently from 'performed'.
Could I use something I wrote here as a writing sample, and what would have to come out of it first?
Why ask it
Mostly a question for law and policy externs, though any student who drafted something can ask. Offices differ: some agree once names and facts are removed, some want to approve the redacted version, and some refuse outright. Raise it before your last week, and never take a copy home on the assumption that it will be fine.
From what you have seen of me, which kind of setting do you think I would do well in?
Why ask it
Someone who has watched you for weeks can often tell whether you suit a fast urgent care or a quiet specialty office, a retail counter or a hospital pharmacy, courtroom work or contracts. It is one opinion, but an informed one. Ask what they saw that led them there.
Where did you do your own placement as a student, and how did you get from there to this job?
Why ask it
Many of the people training you stood where you are a few years ago, so this is an easy one over lunch. Listen for the first job after the placement: how they found it and how long it took. That is your next step, described by someone who has already taken it.
What do you wish you had asked for when you were the student on placement?
Why ask it
The answers tend to be small and usable: more turns at the task that scared them, a morning with a different team, the supervisor's phone number. Put it to two or three people. Anything you hear twice is worth asking for yourself while you still have shifts left.
What keeps you in this work, and which part of it would you warn a student about?
Why ask it
One for a quiet moment with someone who has done the job for years. The first half shows what the good days are made of, and the second brings out the honest part: the hours, the difficult people, the paperwork. Set it beside what you have seen on the placement so far before it changes your mind about anything.
What should I keep practicing between the end of this placement and my first job?
Why ask it
Months can pass between an externship and a first job while exams and applications go through. People who hire will tell you what fades fastest, which is usually the hands-on part. Ask whether the site ever lets former externs come back to observe or volunteer, and how that would work under its own rules.
How to ask questions on an externship
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you start
Read your school's paperwork first
The placement agreement, the skills checklist, the timesheet and the evaluation form say what your school needs from the site. Read them before the first day and bring copies. Most of the questions under Hours and forms are those documents turned into something you can ask out loud, and a supervisor who sees you know the forms will trust you with them.
Know who can answer what
In most programs the site supervisor decides your tasks and schedule and has the main say in your evaluation. The staff you work beside know how things are done hour to hour. Your school's externship coordinator, or whoever holds that job in your program, knows what counts for credit and what happens if the site cannot cover a required skill. A question put to the wrong one of the three gets a guess, so sort your list by person before you ask.
Settle the limits before the logistics
What an extern may do is set by the site, by the agreement with your school and sometimes by the rules for the profession where you are. No list can tell you where those lines fall for your placement. That is why the page opens with the question about what you may do alone, what needs someone watching and what is off limits. Ask it on the first morning and ask how it works there.
Ask the First days group in one sitting
Request fifteen minutes with the supervisor at the start. One batch of practical questions is easier on a busy person than a week of interruptions, and it shows you came prepared. If the placement is only a few days long, send the most pressing ones by email beforehand.
During the placement
Pick the moment
Hold questions while a patient, client or customer is present, and while someone is counting, measuring or concentrating. Jot them down, if the site allows a notebook, and bring them in a lull or at the end of the shift. The same question that irritates at the counter gets a full answer ten minutes later.
Ask to try after you have watched
A request to do something hands-on lands better when you can say what you have seen: 'I have watched you room four patients. Could I take the next one with you there?' It shows you understand the order of things, and it gives the supervisor an easy yes.
Write the answer down
Staff are generous with a first explanation and less so with a third. Keep notes on anything procedural, with no names or identifying details in them, and read them back before the next shift.
Keep the forms moving every week
Get hours signed weekly and skills ticked off as they happen. Keep a photo of each signed page. A supervisor asked to sign a month of sheets on the last afternoon is being asked to vouch for days they no longer remember.
Leave the hiring question until you have shown your work
On a placement of several weeks, the hiring and reference questions that open the Careers group belong in the second half. On a short one, they belong in the final day or two. Asked then, 'do you ever hire externs?' sounds like interest. Asked on the second morning, it sounds like you are looking past the placement. The questions later in that group, about how the staff got to where they are, suit any lunch break.
Reading the answers
A firm limit is a good sign
A site that tells you plainly what you may not touch is supervising you. The answer to worry about is the opposite one: do whatever needs doing, nobody will check. If you are being left alone with tasks you were told needed someone watching, say so to the supervisor and to your coordinator.
Vague answers about sign-off need a second try
'We'll sort the paperwork out at the end' is usually friendliness, not evasion, but it is your grade. Ask once more with the form in your hand and a date in mind. If it is still unclear, your coordinator can contact the site directly.
Compare the supervisor with the staff
Ask the person who trains you some of the same things you asked the supervisor, such as what externs get wrong or what you should be able to do by the end. Where the two agree, you have your targets. Where they differ, the supervisor's version is the one on your evaluation, so check with them.
Take real problems to your school
If you are asked to do something outside the limits you were given, if hours are not being signed, or if something happens that worries you, the externship coordinator is the person to tell. That is what the role is for, and raising it early is easier than explaining it after the placement has ended.
Mistakes to avoid
Waiting to be told
A short placement can pass in standing and watching if you let it. Staff are busy and will not always think to offer. One request a day, to try a task, to sit in on something or to help with a chore, changes what you leave with.
Saying yes to something you were told is off limits
A rushed colleague may hand you a task that an extern is not meant to do there. 'I was told I should not do that one on my own. Can I get someone?' is a sentence worth having ready. Nobody who matters will think less of you for it.
Asking in front of the people the site serves
'Why did you do it that way?' is a good question in the back room. In front of a patient or client, it can sound like doubt about the person treating or advising them. Keep it until you are alone.
Leaving without asking for a reference
Externs often assume the school's evaluation is the end of it. The supervisor's willingness to speak for you is a separate thing and has to be asked for, in person, before your last day.