Hello CC!
Does anyone have ANY experience with high school students doing virtual shadowing either during the pandemic or after? There seem to be several options/websites and I was wondering if any of you had some good experiences with one of the virtual shadowing programs that you could share? Thanks so much in advance for your responses!
Could you please describe the “virtual shadowing programs” to which you are referring?
@thumper1 Thanks for the response! At least one person read my post lol. Why do you have virtual shadowing programs in quotation marks?
Here are the 5 programs that keep being mentioned online
Free Tuition - HEAL’s weekly Wednesday sessions are free. Sign up here.
Real Patient Cases - HEAL uses the most realistic patient experiences available from ReelDx.
Interactive Questions - You are put in the shoes of a resident doing rounds with a physician, asked about the patient’s presenting symptoms, possible diagnoses, and treatment.
Homework Assignments - Using additional ReelDX cases, students learn to take SOAP notes and apply critical reasoning.
Certified Hours - Students who come to all shadowing sessions, attend all clinical education sessions, and do all homework assignments will be issued a Certificate of Completion that certifies the clinical hours that students completed to be put on their applications to medical school, PA school, nursing school or other health professions program.
Interactive Seminar Courses (Additional Fee) - Using the same case-based model popular at US medical schools, pre-health students form teams to present cases to their peers and get guidance from medical students. Find more information here.
(works in tandem with Pre-Health Virtual Shadowing YouTube Channel)
Free Tuition
Host - Dr. Raymond Fowler, an emergency medicine physician who works at Parkland Hospital and the UT Southwestern Medical Center faculty.
Weekly Zoom Sessions - Each Tuesday night at 7:00 pm CST. You can be added to the mailing list and receive access to weekly session links by filling out the sign up form here.
Topics Covered - Each session consists of a presentation conducted by a guest speaker with two Q&A panels: one in the middle of the session and one at the end. Presentations will go over a day in the life, case studies, different medical topics, etc. You can present questions and interact in the chat.
Two Credit Hours Per Week - Every week you can get credit for two hours of experience if you complete a short assessment. A 70% and above will earn you a certificate every week.
Free Tuition
Host - A variety of health professionals in different domains and specialties.
Zoom Sessions and Recordings - See all upcoming sessions here. See archive of past sessions here.
Topics Covered - Typically, there is a presentation for the first half, then a Q&A where students get to ask questions via the chat during the second half. Presentations will include why the professionals decided to go into health, basic knowledge in the field, their education, activities, career path, admissions process, advice, and a glance into their day on the job.
Certificates Available - At the end of the session, there will be a small assessment. If passed, students can receive a certificate verifying their participation. Find out more information here.
Professional Connections - You can reach out to past speakers and develop good relations for potential future networking. See all past speakers.
Free Tuition
Host - Dr. Ryan Gray, the publisher of MedicalSchoolHQ.net.
Weekly Online Sessions - Every Monday at 8 pm ET, with replays on the YouTube Channel Premed.tv.
Corresponding Quizzes - Available each week at eShadowing.com/quiz until the following Monday afternoon.
Topics Covered - Each week, eShadowing will bring you a new physician who will talk about their profession, offer a case presentation, and give their time for Q&A. Register here.
Certificates Available - These must be requested only when needed, not after each session. You have to watch at least 45 minutes of the eShadowing session (either live or replay or combination of both) and pass the quiz with a score of 4/5. eShadowing.com/verify will allow you to request an automatic check of your hours and quiz score by session.
Free Tuition - No sign-up required.
Host - Pre-med students Airyn Hutt and Isis Ramos, with rotating physicians as guest speakers.
YouTube Livestreams - Dates/times vary depending on physicians’ availability and preferences. See list of upcoming streams here.
Google Form for Verification - A Google Form will be used during each livestream for you to fill out for verification. Google Forms will only be accepting responses until 30 minutes after the livestreams end. You’re in charge of logging your own hours. WebShadowers will only verify them.
Topics Covered - Very specialty-focused, with hosts lecturing on a variety of medical professions like surgery, radiology, dermatology, etc.
Credit Available Only for Live Attendance - In order for your credit hours to count, you must attend the livestream during its scheduled time.
@WayOutWestMom your thoughts?
The real question is will BSMD/BSDO programs value this experience. Why not have your student work in a hospital, or become an assistant CNA (could be age limitations depending on your state, but assistant CNA rules tend to be more lax than those for CNA)?
@Mwfan1921 Thanks for the response! Actually the real question is exactly what was asked. Can anyone give some feedback on virtual shadowing programs?
Hopefully wayoutwestmom will chime in, but meanwhile have your student call admissions of these programs and ask…direct information is always better.
Virtual shadowing is worthless for pre-meds at any age.
This was pretty much my thought. At this point, there are ways to shadow in person. You need to reach out to doctors you know…or who your family might know. Someone might allow you to shadow along with them.
If you are looking to shadow in a hospital…some might require that you be 18 years old…or older.
Hey CC! I have personal experience with virtual shadowing. As a high school student like you, I used more online sources, and one is the program AAMC’s VMS Program: It’s a virtual shadowing program where I could observe real patient cases and learn from doctors. I understood the medical profession better. Moreover, I used other online aids like YouTube videos with some practical case, keepnotes.com with answers to my questions about different medical specialties. And only due to a set of online platforms and programs, my progression evolved into a healthcare professional ready to discuss serious medical topics. So make sure to research more sources and have fun exploring the medical field)