At the end of July, sixteen pre-selected students began a structured, two-week residential summer program, learning about current trends in healthcare and spending over 30 hours shadowing providers at UW Health and affiliated area clinics. Hosted by the Center for Pre-Health Advising, the highly competitive Health Professions Shadowing Program is designed for students who are underrepresented in health care and who lack connections to health care professionals.
“The program provides a vehicle through which students can learn about the field of healthcare and medicine, get hands-on experience, academic preparation, and research experience, and make connections with UW–Madison and School of Medicine and Public Health faculty and staff,” says Alexis Steinbach, program director. This year, four of the sixteen students chosen to participate were psychology students, and for each, the program made a significant impact.
For psychology and neurobiology major Jazmine Ramos x‘21, the program offered direction in making the most of her time as an undergraduate student, ensuring that she has a competitive application when she begins applying to medical school.
Nyla Mathis x’21, like many who are interested in pursuing health-related careers, points to the benefit of a psychology major: “Having a deeper understanding of psychology and how people and their minds work will allow me to approach medical conflicts through innovation and new approaches. I am finding that psychology also helps me relate to others and their process of thinking, which will result in me being able to serve a wide range of patients and provide each of them with extraordinary care.”
Applications for the Health Professions Shadowing Program are due Sunday, January 26.