Shadowing is an observational experience that gives you a firsthand look at a health profession by spending time with a practicing professional in their work environment. Your role is to observe, listen, ask appropriate questions, and learn without participating directly in patient care.

Depending on the profession, shadowing might take place in a hospital, outpatient clinic, private practice, rehabilitation facility, pharmacy, veterinary practice, community-based setting, or another environment where healthcare professionals work.

During a shadowing experience, you may have the opportunity to observe:

• How healthcare professionals interact and communicate with patients, clients, families, and other members of the healthcare team.
• The typical responsibilities and daily workflow of a particular profession.
• How professionals collaborate with colleagues from other disciplines.
• Different practice settings, specialties, patient populations, or areas of the profession.
• The challenges and rewards that come with working in a healthcare environment.
• How the profession fits within the broader healthcare system.

Reading about a career or learning about it in the classroom can only tell you so much; observing professionals at work can help you better understand what the career actually looks like day to day.

Shadowing can also help you reflect on questions such as: Can I see myself doing this work? What aspects of this profession interest me? What challenges might I encounter? What practice environments appeal to me? How does this profession compare with other careers I am considering?

Because shadowing is primarily observational, it serves a different purpose from clinical or patient-care experience. Both can be valuable parts of your preparation for a health profession, but one does not necessarily replace the other.

Expectations for shadowing vary across professions and individual professional programs. Some programs may require or recommend documented shadowing or observation hours, while others may place greater emphasis on other forms of exposure to the profession. As your interests become more focused, review the expectations of the programs you are considering.

Shadowing gives you an opportunity to move beyond what you have read or heard about a profession and develop a more realistic understanding of what the work actually involves. It can be especially valuable while you are exploring different health careers or deciding whether a particular profession aligns with your interests, strengths, and goals.

A meaningful shadowing experience can help you:

• Understand the day-to-day realities of a profession. Observe how professionals spend their time, balance different responsibilities, interact with patients or clients, and navigate the less visible parts of their work.
• Explore different practice settings and specialties. The same profession can look very different depending on the setting, patient population, specialty, or type of practice.
• Learn about professional roles and boundaries. Shadowing can help you better understand what a particular healthcare professional is responsible for and how their role differs from or overlaps with other members of the healthcare team.
• Observe communication and professionalism. Pay attention to how professionals communicate with patients, families, colleagues, and other members of the healthcare team, particularly during difficult or sensitive situations.
• Ask more informed questions. Seeing the profession firsthand can help you identify questions you may not have known to ask based on career descriptions or classroom learning alone.
• Evaluate your own career interests. Shadowing can confirm an existing interest, introduce you to an area you had not previously considered, or help you realize that a particular profession or setting may not be the right fit.

For example, you might discover that you enjoy working with a particular patient population but prefer a different professional role, or that you are interested in a profession but would rather work in an outpatient setting than a hospital environment. Those observations can help you make more intentional decisions about future experiences and career plans.

A useful shadowing experience should leave you with a clearer understanding of the work and of your own interests, even if it changes your plans or raises new questions.

Shadowing and clinical experience can both help you learn about healthcare, but they serve different purposes in your preparation for a health profession.

Shadowing is primarily observational. You are watching a healthcare professional perform their work to better understand their responsibilities, interactions with patients or clients, work environment, and role within the healthcare team. You generally are not responsible for providing or supporting care.

Clinical experience involves more active exposure to patients and healthcare delivery. Depending on your role, you may interact with patients, support their care, assist healthcare professionals, or provide direct patient care within your training and scope of responsibility.

For example, spending an afternoon observing a physical therapist work with patients would typically be considered shadowing or observation. Working as a rehabilitation aide and regularly interacting with patients as part of your assigned responsibilities may provide clinical experience.

Both experiences can be valuable.

• Shadowing helps you understand the profession. It gives you focused exposure to what a particular healthcare professional actually does.
• Clinical experience helps you understand patients and healthcare delivery. It allows you to become more actively engaged in healthcare environments and, depending on the role, interact directly with those receiving care.
• Together, they can provide complementary perspectives. You might gain substantial clinical experience in one healthcare setting while shadowing professionals in another to better understand the career you ultimately hope to pursue.

An experience can occasionally include elements of both. For example, a student employed in a clinical setting may have opportunities to observe professionals beyond their usual responsibilities. When describing your experiences, focus on what you actually did and learned. The substance of the experience matters more than fitting every activity neatly into a category.

If a program requires a particular type of experience, confirm exactly what qualifies. Clinical employment may not satisfy a shadowing requirement, and shadowing may not satisfy a clinical experience requirement. Review each program’s admissions guidance carefully to understand how it defines and evaluates these experiences.

There is no universal number of shadowing hours that every pre-health student should complete. Expectations vary by health profession and by individual professional program. Some programs establish specific minimums, while others recommend shadowing without requiring a particular number of hours.

Use your hours as a measure of exposure, not as a goal by themselves. Ask whether you have gained enough experience to understand the profession you are preparing to enter.

Consider whether your shadowing has allowed you to:

• Observe the profession’s typical responsibilities and workflow.
• See meaningful interactions with patients, clients, families, or other healthcare professionals.
• Understand the professional’s role within the broader healthcare team.
• Observe more than one type of interaction, procedure, appointment, or responsibility when appropriate.
• Develop a realistic understanding of both the rewarding and challenging aspects of the work.
• Ask informed questions and reflect on what you observed.
• Explain why the profession is a good fit for your interests and goals.

Depth and variety both have value.

Spending more time with a professional can allow you to see aspects of the work that may not be apparent during a single afternoon. At the same time, shadowing in different settings, specialties, or practice environments can help you appreciate the range that exists within a profession.

You do not need to shadow every specialty or keep adding hours once the experiences stop adding new insight. Aim for enough depth and breadth to develop an informed perspective on the profession.

For students who are still deciding among multiple health careers, shorter experiences with professionals in different fields can also be useful for exploration. As your career goals become clearer, you can pursue more focused exposure to your intended profession.

Admissions expectations can vary even among programs in the same profession, so research individual schools and use their published guidance instead of relying on a single target number.

There is no “magic number” of shadowing hours that guarantees a competitive application. The goal is to gain enough meaningful exposure to make an informed career decision and demonstrate that you understand the profession you are choosing.

Shadowing and observation expectations vary across the health professions. Some professions place substantial emphasis on formal shadowing or observation, while others may value a broader combination of clinical experience, employment, volunteering, and exposure to practitioners in the field.

The goal of this section is not to provide profession-specific hour requirements, which can vary by program, but to help you think about the type of exposure that may be useful for the career you are considering.

Medicine (MD & DO) Shadowing physicians can help you understand the physician’s role in patient care, clinical decision-making, and the healthcare team. When possible, exposure to different physicians, specialties, or practice settings can provide a broader view of medical practice. Shadowing is distinct from clinical experience, and applicants should develop meaningful exposure to patients in addition to understanding the work of physicians.

Physician Assistant (PA) Observing PAs can help you better understand the PA role, including the profession’s collaborative approach to patient care and the ways PA practice can vary across specialties and settings. PA programs often place significant emphasis on direct patient-care experience, so shadowing should not be assumed to substitute for required or recommended patient-care hours.

Dentistry (DDS & DMD) Shadowing dentists is an important way to understand dental practice, including patient interactions, procedures, practice workflow, and the responsibilities of dentists and other members of the dental team. Some dental schools may have specific expectations regarding shadowing hours or exposure to general dentistry.

Physical Therapy (DPT) & Occupational Therapy (OT) Observation can help students understand how physical and occupational therapists evaluate patients, develop treatment plans, and work with individuals over time. Exposure to different patient populations or practice settings may be helpful because the work of PTs and OTs can vary substantially across clinical environments.

Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) & Audiology (AuD) Observation can provide insight into how speech-language pathologists and audiologists assess and work with patients or clients across different ages, conditions, and settings. Experiences may occur in healthcare, rehabilitation, educational, community, or private-practice environments.

Veterinary Medicine (DVM) Observing veterinarians can help you understand the responsibilities of veterinary professionals, interactions with animal patients and their owners, and the realities of veterinary practice. Veterinary programs may distinguish among shadowing, veterinary experience completed under the supervision of a veterinarian, and broader animal experience, so students should review individual program expectations carefully.

Optometry (OD), Pharmacy (PharmD), Podiatric Medicine (DPM), and Other Health Professions Shadowing or observing professionals in your intended field can help you understand the profession’s scope of practice, patient or client interactions, work environment, and role within healthcare. The importance and format of these experiences vary by profession and individual program.

You do not need to observe every possible specialty or practice environment. Instead, seek enough meaningful exposure to develop an informed understanding of the profession and, when possible, appreciate some of the different ways professionals can practice within it.

Always review individual professional programs for specific shadowing or observation requirements and recommendations.

Unlike jobs or internships, shadowing opportunities are not always formally advertised. Finding a professional to shadow often requires research, networking, and direct outreach, and it may take several attempts before you find an opportunity.

Start with people you already know.

• Family, friends, classmates, or coworkers
• Faculty members, advisors, or mentors
• Villanova alumni
• Previous clinical, volunteer, research, or employment experiences
• Student organizations or professional organizations
• Healthcare professionals you have met through other experiences

A direct connection is helpful, but it is not required. Ask people in your network whether they know a professional who may be willing to speak with you or allow you to observe.

Research professionals and organizations directly.

You can also identify professionals through hospitals, health systems, private practices, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, pharmacies, veterinary practices, and other organizations in your area.

• Search organization and practice websites for professionals in the field you are exploring.
• Look for departments, specialties, or practice areas that interest you.
• Check whether the organization has a formal shadowing or observation program.
• Follow any established application or contact process before reaching out to individual professionals.
• Consider smaller practices and community-based organizations in addition to large hospitals and health systems.

Some healthcare organizations do not permit shadowing or restrict it because of privacy, safety, liability, or institutional policies. A professional may be interested in hosting you but unable to do so because of their employer’s rules.

Reach out professionally.

If there is no formal shadowing program, it is appropriate to contact a professional or practice directly to ask whether observation may be possible.

Keep your initial request brief, specific, and professional. Introduce yourself, explain that you are a Villanova student or alumnus exploring or preparing for the profession, and ask whether they would be willing to let you shadow or speak with you about their work.

You may not receive a response to every request, and some professionals simply will not be able to accommodate shadowing. Do not take a lack of response or a “no” personally. Healthcare professionals have demanding schedules, and organizations may have policies outside of the individual practitioner’s control.

If someone cannot offer shadowing, you might ask whether they would be willing to have a brief informational conversation instead. While an informational interview is not the same as shadowing, it can still provide valuable insight into the profession and may lead to other connections.

Be flexible.

Your first opportunity does not need to be with a particular specialty, prestigious institution, or ideal practice setting. A local or community-based practice can provide excellent exposure and may be easier to access than a large healthcare institution.

Be open to opportunities that help you learn about the profession, even if they are not exactly what you initially imagined.

Reaching out to a healthcare professional you do not know can feel awkward, but professional outreach is a normal part of finding shadowing opportunities. A simple, professional message is enough. Introduce yourself, explain why you are reaching out, and make a clear, reasonable request.

A shadowing request should generally include:

• Who you are. Introduce yourself as a Villanova student or alumnus and briefly share your academic or professional interests.
• Why you are contacting them. Explain your interest in their profession, specialty, practice setting, or organization.
• What you are asking for. Clearly state that you are interested in an opportunity to shadow or observe.
• Your general availability. A few broad windows of availability are usually enough, and flexibility can make scheduling easier.
• A brief thank-you. Acknowledge that you appreciate their time and consideration.

Keep your message brief and personalized.

Healthcare professionals are busy. Your initial message should usually be a short paragraph or two, not a detailed explanation of your academic history or career goals.

Whenever possible, personalize your outreach. If you found the professional through an alumni connection, faculty referral, organization website, or particular area of practice that interests you, mention that briefly. Avoid sending a message that feels like it could have been sent unchanged to dozens of people.

Use a professional email address, proofread your message, address the recipient appropriately, and include your full name and contact information.

Following up.

If you do not receive a response, it is appropriate to send one polite follow-up after a reasonable amount of time. Keep it brief and acknowledge that you understand they may be busy.

If you still do not hear back, move on to another contact. Repeated emails or calls are unlikely to improve your chances and may come across as unprofessional.

If someone declines your request, thank them for considering it. A “no” may reflect scheduling, institutional policy, patient privacy concerns, or other circumstances that have nothing to do with you.

When someone says yes.

Respond promptly and professionally. Confirm the date, time, location, expected duration, and where you should report when you arrive. You should also ask whether there are any requirements you need to complete beforehand, such as:

• Confidentiality or privacy paperwork
• Vaccination or health documentation
• Background checks or institutional onboarding
• Dress or footwear requirements
• Identification or security procedures
• Other organization-specific requirements

Once the experience is complete, send a brief thank-you message to the professional who hosted you. In addition to being courteous, maintaining these professional relationships can be valuable as you continue exploring your field.

Once you have secured a shadowing opportunity, your role is primarily to observe, learn, and engage appropriately. You are a guest in a professional environment, and patient or client care will always take priority over your learning experience.

Observe intentionally.

Pay attention to the full picture of the profession, including the routine parts of the day, not only procedures, diagnoses, or the most visibly interesting moments.

• How the professional communicates with patients, clients, families, and caregivers.
• How they gather information, explain recommendations, and respond to questions or concerns.
• How they interact and collaborate with other healthcare professionals and staff.
• How their time is divided among direct care, documentation, communication, administrative responsibilities, and other tasks.
• How the pace and responsibilities of the work change throughout the day.
• The types of decisions, challenges, and uncertainties the professional encounters.
• How the realities of the work compare with your previous understanding of the profession.

You will not understand everything you observe. Use the experience to learn about the profession and ask thoughtful questions when appropriate.

Ask questions at the right time.

Questions are an important part of shadowing, but use your judgment about when to ask them. Avoid interrupting patient or client interactions, procedures, conversations among members of the healthcare team, or other moments that require the professional’s attention.

• Their career path and what led them to the profession.
• What they find most rewarding or challenging about their work.
• How their responsibilities have changed over time.
• Differences among specialties, settings, or career paths within the profession.
• Skills or qualities they believe are important for success.
• Things they wish they had understood before entering the profession.
• Questions that arose from something you observed during the experience.

Ask questions that help you understand the profession. Avoid turning the experience into an admissions interview or asking the professional to evaluate your competitiveness for professional school.

Be engaged without getting in the way.

Stay attentive, limit unnecessary phone use, and follow the professional’s direction about where to stand, when you may ask questions, and whether you may accompany them into particular spaces.

Do not perform tasks, assist with care, access records, or participate in activities simply because you have seen someone else do them. Only participate in activities you are explicitly permitted and appropriately trained or authorized to perform. Shadowing itself is observational.

If a patient, client, caregiver, or professional is uncomfortable with your presence, respect that immediately. You may occasionally be asked to step out of a room or miss part of an interaction, and that is a normal part of shadowing in healthcare environments.

Approach the experience with curiosity, professionalism, and respect. By the end, you should have a better understanding of what the professional’s work actually entails.

Shadowing places you in professional environments where you may encounter private, sensitive, or confidential information. Protecting the privacy and dignity of patients, clients, families, and others receiving care is a fundamental responsibility.

Before beginning, the organization or professional you are shadowing may require confidentiality agreements, privacy training, orientation, or other documentation. Follow all policies and instructions provided by the organization, even if you have shadowed elsewhere before.

Protect patient and client privacy.

• Do not share names, diagnoses, photographs, identifying details, or other private information with friends, classmates, family members, or on social media.
• Do not photograph or record patients, clients, records, computer screens, clinical spaces, or other sensitive information unless explicitly authorized.
• Do not access medical records, charts, files, or other information unless you are specifically authorized to do so as part of another role.
• Follow instructions about where you may be present and when you may need to leave a room or interaction.
• Respect a patient’s or client’s right to decline having a student observer present.

Privacy requirements can differ depending on the profession and setting. HIPAA applies to many healthcare environments, but confidentiality and privacy responsibilities extend beyond HIPAA-covered settings. Veterinary, educational, community-based, and other environments may operate under different laws or policies while still requiring you to protect confidential information.

Remember that you are a guest.

Professionalism extends beyond confidentiality. Arrive on time, follow dress and appearance expectations, introduce yourself appropriately, keep your phone away unless needed, and treat everyone you encounter with respect, including patients, clients, families, administrative staff, support staff, and members of the healthcare team.

Pay attention to the norms of the environment and follow the direction of the professional hosting you. If you are unsure whether something is appropriate, ask before acting.

Be thoughtful when reflecting on your experience.

Reflection is an important part of shadowing, and brief notes can help you remember what you learned. Keep those notes focused on your observations, questions, and learning and leave out identifiable details about individual patients or clients.

You may eventually discuss meaningful experiences in professional school applications or interviews. Protect the privacy of everyone involved and focus on what the experience taught you. Identifying or sensitive details are rarely necessary.

Keeping a record of your shadowing experiences will make it much easier to report them accurately when you apply to professional school. It also helps you notice what you are actually learning from the experience as you go.

A simple tracking system works well. Use a spreadsheet, document, or another format you will maintain consistently.

For each shadowing experience, consider recording:

• Professional’s name and credentials
• Profession and specialty or area of practice
• Organization or practice name and location
• Dates of the experience
• Number of hours completed
• Professional’s contact information
• Type of practice or setting
• General types of activities or interactions you observed

Reflect while the experience is still fresh.

Along with the logistical details, take a few minutes after each experience, or periodically during a longer-term experience, to record what stood out to you.

• What did I learn about this profession that I did not understand before?
• What aspects of the professional’s work interested or surprised me?
• What did I observe about interactions with patients, clients, families, or other healthcare professionals?
• What challenges or less appealing aspects of the work did I notice?
• How did this setting or specialty compare with others I have observed?
• Did this experience strengthen, change, or challenge my interest in the profession?
• What questions do I still have?
• What would I like to explore next?

Focus on your learning, not patient details.

When recording reflections, avoid including names or other identifying information about patients, clients, families, or others you observed. Those details are usually unnecessary for remembering why an interaction was meaningful.

Instead, focus on what you observed, how you responded, what questions it raised, and what you learned about the profession or yourself.

These reflections can become valuable later when you are preparing activity descriptions, personal statements, supplemental essays, or interviews. More importantly, they can help you make thoughtful decisions about whether a profession, and the realities of practicing it, is actually right for you.

Virtual shadowing can provide another way to learn about health professions when in-person observation is difficult to access. These experiences may include live or recorded sessions in which healthcare professionals discuss their work, walk through cases or scenarios, describe their career paths, or provide insight into different specialties and practice settings.

Virtual opportunities can be particularly useful for career exploration and supplementing your in-person experiences, but they are not always viewed the same way as traditional shadowing by professional programs.

When virtual shadowing can be helpful:

• Explore professions before pursuing in-person opportunities. Virtual shadowing can be a low-barrier way to learn about a career and decide whether you would like to explore it further.
• Learn about specialties or practice areas that may be difficult to access locally.
• Hear from a wider range of professionals. Online programs may expose you to different career paths, specialties, patient populations, and practice environments.
• Supplement other experiences. Virtual sessions can broaden your perspective alongside in-person shadowing, clinical experience, employment, volunteering, or other forms of career exploration.
• Maintain exposure when in-person shadowing is not feasible. Scheduling, transportation, geographic location, institutional restrictions, or other circumstances can sometimes make traditional shadowing difficult to arrange.

Understand the limitations.

Virtual shadowing cannot fully replicate being physically present in a healthcare environment. You may have less opportunity to observe the everyday workflow of a practice, interactions among members of a healthcare team, communication with patients or clients, or the less structured moments that provide insight into what the work is actually like.

Professional programs may also differ in how they view virtual experiences. Do not assume that virtual shadowing will satisfy a program’s shadowing or observation requirement. If a program requires a specific number or type of observation hours, review its admissions guidance to determine whether virtual experiences are accepted.

Evaluate virtual opportunities thoughtfully.

Not every online program labeled “virtual shadowing” offers the same experience. Before investing significant time or money, consider who is providing the program, what the sessions actually involve, whether you will interact with practicing professionals, and what you hope to learn from participating.

Regardless of format, use the experience to develop a more informed and realistic understanding of the health profession you are considering. Pay attention to what you learn and how it shapes your career exploration.