The value of medical shadowing for high school students: A three-dimensional view.

Abstract

Medical shadowing helps provide clinical exposure to aspiring and current medical students, mainly at the college level. This paper makes a case for making medical shadowing opportunities more widely available for high school students. Through the perspective of a high school student who got such an opportunity, we demonstrate that high school students can gain valuable clinical knowledge and exposure to the ethics involved in patient care, inspiring them to explore further pathways that will help them make better-informed academic and career choices. This high school student provides pointers on preparing for medical shadowing encounters through background research and developing a note-taking template. We also offer early-career and experienced physicians' perspectives on how providing medical shadowing opportunities to high school students benefits practicing physicians by energizing their motivation, reaffirming their commitment to the profession, and gaining a fresh perspective on their work. We believe that medical shadowing for high school students can open channels to attract and motivate a young and diverse talent pool to the medical profession that will help mitigate the projected shortfall of physicians in the next decade.