Virtual Shadowing Program for Preclinical Medical Students

Virtual Shadowing: An Effective Approach to Gaining Exposure to the Field of Emergency Medicine

Purpose

Shadowing is an important part of medical student education. The COVID-19 pandemic limited medical students' hospital access. At the same time, virtual access to learning experiences has expanded greatly. In response, we implemented a novel virtual shadowing system to provide students with convenient and safe exposure to the Emergency Department (ED).

Patients and Methods

Six EM faculty hosted 2-hour virtual shadowing for up to 10 students per experience. Students registered via signupgenius.com. Virtual shadowing was conducted using a HIPAA-compliant ZOOM account on an ED issued mobile telehealth Monitor/iPad. The physician would bring the iPad into the room, obtain consent from patients, and ensure students were able to see the encounter. Between visits, students were encouraged to ask questions using the chat function and microphone. A short de-briefing followed each shift. Each participant received a survey about the experience. The survey consisted of 4 questions for demographics, 9 Likert style questions to assess efficacy, and 2 free response sections for comments and feedback. All survey responses were anonymous.

Results

In total, 58 students participated in 18 virtual shadowing sessions with an average of 3-4 students per session. Survey responses were collected between October 20, 2020 and November 20, 2020. The overall response rate was 96.6% (56/58 surveys completed). Of respondents, 46 (82.1%) rated the experience as "effective" or "very effective" at providing exposure to Emergency Medicine. Fifty-three (94.6%) said they would participate in virtual shadowing in the ED again, and 48 (85.7%) would do virtual shadowing in another specialty were it available.

Conclusion

We found virtual shadowing to be an easy to implement and effective way for students to shadow physicians in the ED. Even in post-pandemic times, virtual shadowing should be explored as an accessible and effective way to expose students to a broad array of specialties.

Students’ perceptions on shadowing during COVID‐19 and an exploration of innovative solutions for clinical exposure

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE

The objective of this project was to evaluate the perceptions of predental students' shadowing experiences during a pandemic and further, explore innovative solutions that can be implemented to ensure that shadowing opportunities are equitable and accessible.

METHODS

Data was collected via the Web 2.0 social media platform, Instagram (owned by Meta Platforms, Inc.) from 122 participants attending college in North America and are on the predental track: freshman (N = 11), sophomores (N = 25), juniors (N = 30), seniors (N = 34) and recent college graduates (N = 22). Participants completed a survey consisting of 20 questions.

RESULTS

Results showed that the pandemic disrupted traditional shadowing methods; students turned to various virtual platforms, such as YouTube and Zoom, to obtain shadowing experiences. There was an increase in the number of students who shadowed virtually during the pandemic versus pre-COVID-19. The majority of the respondents (80%) agreed that dental schools have not provided sufficient guidance on how to approach shadowing during a pandemic.

CONCLUSION

Innovative shadowing platforms should be implemented in order to help college students explore careers within dentistry and beyond. The development of a standardized virtual shadowing program with clear guidelines can increase equity and accessibility.

Breast Imaging and Social Media: A Model Specialty for Increasing Interest and Awareness of Radiology in Pre-Medical Students

OBJECTIVE

To assess how a virtual shadowing (VS) session on breast imaging (BI), shared through social media, can increase interest and awareness of radiology in pre-medical students.

METHODS

This study was IRB exempt. A VS slide presentation on BI mentorship, didactic lecture, and deidentified image-rich, case-based learning was created. This session was advertised and presented live through an Instagram page (Pre-Health Virtual Shadowing, @virtualshadowing) geared toward pre-health students. Students were asked to complete a two-question self-assessment using a 5-point Likert scale on which 1 was "least" and 5 was "most." Question 1 read: "Please rate your overall knowledge about radiology and what a radiologist does," and question 2 read: "Please rate your interest in possibly looking into radiology as a potential career."

RESULTS

A total of 420 participants logged into the VS session; 82% (345/420) answered the pre-session survey and 48% (202/420) answered the post-session survey. Of post-survey respondents, 84% (170/202) were female and 70% (143/202) were 22 years old or younger. There was a significant difference in mean pre-session survey responses to question 1 when compared to mean post-session survey responses (2.67 vs 3.55, P < 0.001). There was also a significant difference in mean pre-session survey responses to question 2 when compared to mean post-session survey responses (3.16 vs 3.58, P < 0.001). Our VS session remains on YouTube and has 6157 views to date.

CONCLUSION

When shared through VS on social media, breast imaging can increase interest and awareness of radiology in pre-medical students.

Virtual Clinical Shadowing for Pre-Clinical Medical Students in an Emergency Medicine-Based Leadership Course

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic limited pre-clinical medical students from participating in traditional clinical in-person shadowing. Rather than eliminating clinical shadowing from an established leadership course, we describe the experience of six pre-clinical medical students shadowing physician preceptors remotely through virtual platforms. Methods: Six pre-clinical medical students enrolled in 2020's Weill Cornell Medicine's Healthcare Leadership and Management Scholars Program were prepared with training materials for on-camera patient care. Students shadowed emergency medicine (EM) physicians providing clinical care in one of our New York Presbyterian emergency departments (EDs) and through telemedicine. Pre- and postsurveys were provided to these students. Results: From three different U.S. time zones, students were safely able to shadow EM physicians. The educational fidelity was maintained in physician-student relationships, but revealed opportunities for improvement in students' clinical learning, in ED clinical care, and in telemedicine visits. Conclusions: Virtual clinical shadowing is a viable option for pre-clinical students, when in-person options are not available. With logistical adjustments, this medium may be a long-term educational option especially for telemedicine.