Navigating the World of Health Professions: A Guide to Clinical Internship and Shadowing Program Requirements

The healthcare industry is a dynamic and rewarding field, offering stable, in-demand careers with continuous opportunities for learning and advancement. It provides the chance to contribute meaningfully to society, often witnessing the direct impact of your work on patients’ lives. Health professions encompass a wide array of roles dedicated to promoting, maintaining, and restoring health. These roles span direct patient care, diagnostics, therapeutic services, health information management, and environmental health. For those aspiring to join this field, clinical internships and shadowing programs are invaluable experiences. This article explores the requirements and opportunities available, particularly focusing on clinical internship and shadowing programs, and how to make the most of these experiences.

The Value of Clinical Internships and Shadowing Programs

Clinical internships and shadowing programs offer aspiring healthcare professionals a chance to gain real-world experience and work closely with peers of similar interests. These experiences are crucial for pre-med students and others looking to develop their skills and confirm their career choices. They also provide a holistic perspective toward healthcare, which is highly valued by medical school admissions teams.

Gaining Healthcare Exposure

Medical schools want 3 things: (1) healthcare exposure, (2)GPA/MCAT, and (3)certain competencies. Shadowing experiences provide invaluable healthcare exposure, allowing students to observe healthcare professionals in action and understand their roles and responsibilities. For example, Atlantis shadowing programs offer unique experiences over school breaks, providing valuable exposure to different fields of medicine.

Developing Essential Skills

Internships and shadowing programs help students develop essential skills needed for success in health professions. Lab skills, for instance, are practical abilities and knowledge needed to safely and accurately conduct analyses. Furthermore, programs centered around public health help build a holistic perspective towards healthcare, fostering critical thinking and leadership skills.

Confirming Career Choices

Experiences like the Atlantis program can play a key role in confirming the decision to pursue medicine. Speaking with physicians and hearing their personal motivations can help better contextualize and validate one's own interest in medicine. Observing how doctors reassure and communicate with their patients provides insight into the human aspect of healthcare.

Types of Student Placements

Clinical Students

These students, typically including nursing, therapy, and other allied health students, are in college programs that involve direct contact with patients or visitors. Their clinical experience/rotation at healthcare facilities is arranged by a college-based instructor.

Non-Clinical Students

These students are enrolled in college programs typically in office settings or areas where there aren’t any patients.

Student and Physician Observers

This category includes high school or college students requiring observer hours for career exploration or to apply for a clinical program (e.g., medical school, dental school, physician assistant school, etc.).

Finding Internship and Shadowing Opportunities

Several avenues exist for finding pre-med internships or summer programs:

AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges): The AAMC website is a comprehensive resource for any questions or opportunities related to the medical school journey. It includes a list of summer undergraduate research programs.
Medical Schools: Many medical schools offer summer or pipeline programs for pre-med students.
Government Agencies: The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and NIH (National Institutes of Health) offer internships that help develop leadership and critical thinking skills, as well as research experience.
Local Clinics and Practices: Reaching out to advisors or health professions teams can provide information on local internship opportunities.

Atrium Health Internship and Shadowing Programs

Atrium Health offers various programs for students seeking healthcare experience:

Summer Internship Program

This program provides a unique opportunity for college (undergraduate and graduate level) and high school students to gain project-based learning experience. High school interns are often placed through programs like the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program (MYEP) and The Senator Scott Opportunity Internship Program.

Shadowing/Observation Process

Managed by the Volunteer Services Department, this process allows individuals to shadow within different departments. Hosting departments are responsible for overseeing those participating in the experiences.

Allied Health, Medical Education, and Nursing Student Placement Programs

These programs are work-based learning opportunities that help students develop practical skills to enhance their future healthcare careers and bridge the gap between formal education and practical work experience.

Requirements and Oversight

General Requirements

Prior to starting an observer experience for more than one day in a calendar year, certain requirements must be completed. Each hospital or ambulatory practice is responsible for ensuring appropriate oversight of student and physician observers, including processing the required paperwork and verifying that the observer has a sponsoring physician or APP (if applicable).

Job Shadowing

Job shadowing must be done in partnership with a healthcare teammate. Student and Physician Observers are allowed within healthcare facilities but must always be accompanied by the sponsoring physician or Advanced Practice Provider (APP).

Read also: Clinical Research Internships

Patient Consent

Observers must be introduced to the patient as an Observer, and the patient must give their verbal consent for the observer to be present for the clinical interaction.

Examples of Intern Projects and Activities

Interns engage in a variety of activities, including:

Quality Management / Length of Stay (LOS): Examining patient charts and shadowing different departments to identify care delays or communication issues.
Shadowing: Observing different teammates and verbally interacting with patients.
Inventory/Guest Services: Working in outpatient surgery areas, stocking supplies, and preparing patient education materials.

Wake Forest University Counseling Practicum and Internship

Wake Forest University (WFU) offers a comprehensive counseling practicum and internship program designed to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and personal development necessary for a successful career in counseling. The practicum is a highly individualized learning experience that allows students to increase their understanding of themselves and their impact on others, as well as augment their understanding of their setting (school or community/mental health).

Practicum Requirements

The counseling practicum is a pre-internship experience designed to help students further develop their individual counseling and group work skills under careful supervision. The practicum includes a minimum of 185 total hours, with at least 150 hours of field experience in a community/mental health or school setting plus at least 35 hours of individual/triadic and group supervision by University faculty.

Direct Service Hours and Shadowing

Students must complete 50 hours of direct service with clients. Up to 10 hours of shadowing can be counted towards their direct hours for practicum. Students must adhere to ethical standards as outlined by the American Counseling Association and the American School Counseling Association.

Professional Behavior and Site Requirements

Students are expected to treat their practicum site as a professional job, adhering to all policies and procedures, including dress code, timeliness, and confidentiality regulations. They must also become familiar with the site's policies, schedules, forms, and procedures.

Supervision and Recording

Students will receive regular supervision from both site supervisors and university supervisors. They are required to record client sessions using WFU Zoom Pro and submit a minimum of three recordings for review and critique.

Evaluations and Grading

Students will be evaluated based on their clinical and professional competence in multiple areas. The evaluation process includes self-evaluations, site supervisor evaluations, and university supervisor evaluations.

Key Components of the WFU Program

Entering and Belonging: Becoming familiar with the site and its complex interactions.
Professional Behavior: Adhering to site policies and maintaining professional conduct.
Field Experiences: Engaging in direct service with clients.
Confidentiality: Maintaining strict confidentiality of client information.
Recordings: Recording and submitting client sessions for review.
Case Presentation: Making at least one oral case presentation to the supervision group.
On-site Supervision: Meeting regularly with the site supervisor.
Self-evaluation: Submitting a self-evaluation paper describing personal and professional achievements.
Time Log: Maintaining a weekly time log recording field experiences.
Individual Counseling: Practicing and improving basic counseling skills.
Group Counseling: Leading or co-leading a counseling or psychoeducation group.
Consultation, Collaboration, & Community: Participating in consultation experiences.

Essential Skills for Health Professions

Developing a strong foundation of skills is essential for success in health professions. These include:

Lab skills: The practical abilities and knowledge needed to safely and accurately conduct analyses.
Communication skills: The ability to interact and empathize with patients of diverse backgrounds and communities.
Critical thinking skills: The ability to analyze and solve complex problems in healthcare settings.
Leadership skills: The ability to take initiative and guide others in healthcare teams.

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