Medical Shadowing: Honors 413

Students interested in pursuing careers in health care benefit from exposure to diverse settings to gauge and affirm their interest in careers in health. During shadowing, the student will have the opportunity to observe healthcare professionals providing patient care. Shadowing can occur in a variety of settings including hospitals, outpatient clinics, long term care facilities and/or private practice*. Observation must occur under the appropriate supervision of a licensed physician or other licensed health care professional. Students are required to have a placement identified before the first day of HNRS 413 and must have completed all of the pre-requisite paperwork and health screenings required by NMSU and/or the site.

Shadowing is different that volunteering or other types of fieldwork as the student may not participate in providing patient care in any manner. The primary purpose of shadowing is observation and students may not engage in any activity that is considered the practice of medicine. These activities include, but are not limited to: diagnosing diseases, administering medications, charting or other documentation, taking patient history or vitals, providing medical advice or other tasks generally reserved for trained health care professional.

Shadowing experience is often a pre-requisite for admissions into professional medical programs and the Honors College is pleased to structure this experience for students to foster reflection and career decision making.

Application for HNRS 413: Medical Shadowing

 *Students may not shadow clinical psychologists or other providers during one-on-one therapeutic sessions.