VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

Clinical Shadowing Clinical shadowing refers to an observational experience in which an OMS 1 and OMS 2 student spends time following a physician in order to learn more about a specific specialty, residency program, or clinical facility or in an effort to increase their experience and exposure to the practice of medicine. Many OMS 1 and OMS 2 students choose to engage in clinical shadowing experiences during breaks in their formal medical school curriculum such as during block breaks, summer break or weekends. Shadowing experiences can be extremely valuable, and students may choose to include these experiences in their resume, personal statement, or Dean’s letter (Medical Student Performance Evaluation or MSPE). It is essential; however, that students who choose to engage in shadowing experiences understand that there is an important difference between shadowing and the clinical rotations/experiences students participate in as part of their medical school curriculum. Clinical rotations/experiences that occur in conjunction with the VCOM clinical curriculum (Early Clinical Experiences, Appalachian and International Medical Missions and OMS3/OMS4 scheduled rotations) are done with clinically appointed VCOM faculty and follow very specific guidelines in regard to student’s roles, responsibilities, supervision requirements, and feedback and evaluation processes. In addition, students participating in the VCOM clinical curriculum, as described above, are provided malpractice insurance that covers them while functioning in these very defined supervised clinical rotations/experiences. In contrast to the clinical curriculum experiences, shadowing experiences for OMS 1 and OMS 2 students do not occur as part of the student’s required medical school curriculum, may occur with non-VCOM appointed faculty and may lack the defined structure, supervision, feedback mechanisms and medical-legal protection (insurance) required of formal clinical rotations/experiences. Thus, students choosing to engage in shadowing experience should be aware of the guidelines below: 1. Shadowing experiences for OMS 1 and OMS 2 students are meant to be observational and if any hands-on activity occurs with patients, it should be patient examination only and MUST be repeated by the physician. To protect patients and students, invasive exams such as pelvic, rectal and genitourinary exams should not be performed while on shadowing experiences. 2. OMS 1 and OMS 2 students are not protected by malpractice insurance while engaged in clinical shadowing experiences with a physician who is not a VCOM clinical faculty member. In this case, VCOM students are required to let the physicians they are shadowing know that they are not covered by VCOM insurance. 3. Students engaging in clinical shadowing that has not been approved by VCOM must not wear their VCOM white coat during these experiences. 4. Students must ensure they follow all hospital system, facility, and/or ambulatory policies when engaging in any shadowing type of experience. Individual physicians a student chooses to shadow may not be familiar with the facility’s policies so be sure to make sure that you review and comply with any facility or system specific policies. Students are bound to HIPAA regulations while shadowing. 5. Individual physicians that you may be shadowing will not know your level of training and it is therefore the student’s ethical and professional duty to fully explain their level of training and to not participate at a level beyond your training. If an OMS 3 or OMS 4 students wish to participate in a volunteer clinical experiences that is not a part of the required curriculum and the experience is approved by the Associate Dean or the Director of Student Medical Education, the experience is considered volunteer time. VCOM recognizes that OMS 3 and OMS 4 students may volunteer for additional hours outside of their required rotations in order to experience clinical specialties prior to residency selection. If such clinical experiences are scheduled with a VCOM faculty member and/or approved by the Associate Dean or the Director of Student Medical Education in advance, the experience is considered as approved clinical curriculum and VCOM’s malpractice insurance covers such activity. The College must hold an agreement with any hospital the student is completing a clinical rotation or experience. Volunteer hours are considered non-credit hours and will not be reported on the transcript.

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