Shadowing Opportunities Miami

Official shadowing programs aside, it’s worth spending some time reading about possible hospital volunteering programs in Miami and the surrounding area.

Shadowing Experiences

Shadowing is a critical part of the preparation for graduate education in the health sciences. Shadowing helps the student understand the standards and demands of employment in health care and provides students with an appreciation of the breadth and depth of skills required of the health care professional. Shadowing encompasses volunteer and service opportunities that focus student attention on core values of compassion and respect for individuals.

When shadowing, a student can experience patient-practitioner interactions, can learn how classroom knowledge translates to patient care and can understand how clinical observations inform learning. Exposure to patient care settings ranging from small offices to large hospitals, from private to nonprofit institutions, and from general care to medical specialty gives students knowledge of primary health care delivery. Shadowing experiences in auxiliary healthcare settings such as pharmacies, residential rehabilitation and nursing facilities, public health agencies or administrative offices provide perspective on how healthcare involves teams of professionals working together. A holistic understanding of how personal choices and societal constraints impact human health is obtained by working with volunteer or service organizations that provide food, social services, transportation and housing. Shadowing in technical support industries such as pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment sales or health insurance providers can open doors into a range of healthcare employment opportunities. The outcome of shadowing for each student should be a clearer vision of how they want to contribute to the community of healthcare professionals.

Many MMSc students participated in shadowing as undergraduate students. During your advising sessions after matriculating in the MMSc program, the Program Director will review your past shadowing experiences and help you set goals for additional shadowing during the MMSc program. Shadowing forms the basis for the culminating Capstone project of the MMSc degree, and you will need to complete at least 100 hours of graduate level shadowing specifically for the Capstone. Students may also want to do additional hours to explore particular interests or to fill gaps in their previous experiences.

The MMSc faculty and staff will work closely with you to design your shadowing to ensure that your experiences strengthen your application to medical or other healthcare professional schools. Miami alumni in healthcare professions are often willing to help Miami students by providing or recommending experiences.

During your shadowing, you will keep a journal that records your clinical and technical experiences, your responses to situations that you encounter, your questions about what you observed, and your insights into your professional goals. The journal will then serve as the basis for your work in the Capstone class during your final semester of the program. The journal will also help you integrate your shadowing experiences into a compelling personal statement that will support your application to medical or other healthcare professional schools.

4 Physician Shadowing Opportunities in Miami! (2021)

Shadowing is important if you’re planning on a career in healthcare. It’s also notoriously difficult to get!

If you live in Miami and the surrounding area these physician shadowing opportunities could be good for you.

List of Physician Shadowing Programs in Miami

Baptist Health Observer Program

Prospective applicants may choose to shadow under the supervision of a Baptist Health employee or medical staff member, including physicians. Observers may shadow on rounds, watch procedures and attend teaching conferences.

The Observer program is open to anyone over the age of 16.

The duration of the observership is at the discretion of the clinician and can last up to four weeks.

An administrative fee is required. Please see the website for more information.

DETAILS

• Name: Baptist Health South Florida
• Location: Coral Gables, FL
• Phone: 786-467-2633
• Contact: [email protected]
• Website: https://learning.baptisthealth.net/student-and-visitor-programs/job-shadowing-and-externships/observer-program

Larkin Community Hospital

South Miami’s Larkin Community Hospital has shadowing programs for Larkin College’s students of allied health subjects. Students have the opportunity to choose from the following departments:

• Clinical Surgery
• Internal/Family Medicine
• Psychology
• Dermatology
• Neuroscience/Gamma Knife
• Neurology
• Oncology
• Critical Care
• Cardiovascular

Non-affiliated individuals may want to reach out to see about the availability of observerships, shadowing and more.

DETAILS

• Name: Larkin Community Hospital
• Location: 7031 SW 62nd Avenue South Miami, FL 33143
• Phone: 305-284-7500
• Website: https://www.ularkin.org/student-services/shadowing/

Miami Children’s Hospital Shadowing Program

Nicklaus Children’s Hospital (Miami Children’s Hospital) has a number of shadowing, observership and internship programs aimed at high school, nursing, undergraduate and general students.

Interns will recieve hands on experience, collaboration with highly regarded professionals and a chance to learn at one of the nation’s top Children’s Hospitals.

DETAILS

• Name: Nicklaus Children’s Hospital
• Location: 3100 S.W. 62nd AveMiami, FL 33155
• Phone: 305-666-6511
• Website: https://www.nicklauschildrens.org/medical-professionals/for-students

Observership Program at the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics

The University of Miami School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital provides clinical externships (electives) for students enrolled in medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

The following types of programs are available:

Externships and Observerships: Available for visiting and international students.

Global Observership Program: Offers qualified foreign medical students and physicians one- to three-month rotations at the University to observe the activities of a particular department, division, center or institute.

Virtual Observerships: The International Medicine Institute’s Medical Training Program is now offering virtual programs in several medical specialties.

DETAILS

• Name: University of Miami/Jackson Health
• Location: Various Locations
• Phone: 305-243-9200
• Contact: [email protected]
• Website: http://admissions.med.miami.edu/md-programs/visiting-students/externships-and-observerships

Other opportunities for hospital-based shadowing in Miami

Official shadowing programs aside, it’s worth spending some time reading about possible hospital volunteering programs in Miami and the surrounding area.

Signing up to volunteer can help you build a network among physicians, nurses, physician assistants and other health workers that you might lead to shadowing opportunities.

Check out our list of opportunities for hospital volunteering in Miami here.

What about private shadowing?

Setting up your own physician shadowing program is another option.

You can reach out to Miami-based physicians independently and politely request opportunity for shadowing/observerships.

The best way to do this could be via LinkedIn or contacting hospital/physician pages directly via email or phone.

I want to shadow a certain specialty doctor, what can I do?

If you’re looking to learn more about the various medical specialty’s then shadowing is a great idea.

Landing opportunities is broadly the same across all areas of medicine and health. You’ll want to contact departments directly and see if they can put you in contact with specialist healthcare workers.

For students looking for specific shadowing guides after they’ve landed opportunities, make sure you check out our articles on anesthetics and psychiatry shadowing.

Summary

Physician or hospital-based shadowing is important for students looking to apply and learn more about various healthcare education programs.

Hopefully the programs above can help people local to Miami achieve exactly that!

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