Guidelines for Student Shadowing for the Division of Pediatric Surgery

Background

The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) offers visiting student rotations. Students must be at least 16 years old and high school juniors or older. This offering is altruistic in nature with the purpose of getting personal information or experience regarding careers in the surgical field.

The shadowing schedule is based on a matching process between the student’s request and the division’s ability to facilitate student experience. Requirements for being considered for the experience are posted online.

SMD Unpaid Academic Internship and Shadowing Program Requirements and FAQs

Overall Scheme

• Interested students should fulfill the Program Requirements as delineated above.
• Students should send the following to the Office of Division of Pediatric Surgery.
  • Letter of interest, specific to surgery
  • Resume or curriculum vitae
• Office of Pediatric Surgery will accept and designate opportunities for shadowing two times during the academic year: August (fall and winter) and February (spring and summer).
• Students will be prioritized based on level of training with URMC Medical Students given highest priority, URMC undergraduate students, other undergraduate students, high school students
• When possible, each student will be assigned to one surgeon/APP team
• The shadowing experience will be discussed by the faculty and may consist of
  • One clinic experience
  • One rounding experience
  • One experience in the operating room
• At the end of the experience, students will write a one page summary of their shadowing that will highlight what they learned, what was good about the experience, and areas where we can improve. This will be due within 30 days of last shadow experience.
• To allow for more opportunities for students, shadowing will be restricted to three sessions with only one in the operating room. Further, more in-depth experiences may be discussed on an individualized basis.