Medical Students Shadow Nurses to Build Communication Skills

November 28, 2022 by Janet Essman Franz

Each year, Larner College of Medicine second-year medical students participate in a nurse-shadowing activity during the advocacy module in the Professionalism, Communication and Reflection (PCR) course. For future doctors, shadowing nurses at UVM Medical Center provides the opportunity to gain insight on how nurses advocate for their patients in a busy clinical environment.

Ana Homick '25 listens as Amy Winkler, R.N., talks to a patient. (photo: Andy Duback)

Each year, Larner College of Medicine second-year medical students participate in a nurse-shadowing activity during the advocacy module in the Professionalism, Communication and Reflection (PCR) course. PCR aims to cultivate the habit of communicating with peers and colleagues about difficult subjects, says course director Stephen Berns, M.D., associate professor and director of education for palliative medicine. Learn about the impact this experience had on a group of Class of 2025 medical students who recently shadowed nurses working in the neurology and specialty surgery units at the UVM Medical Center.


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“We are all guilty of making assumptions that have questioned the classical definition of what a doctor ‘looks like,’ but have we ever pondered just how a doctor’s brain learns and processes information?”

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photo of Aathman Swaminathan

— Aathman Swaminathan, Class of 2024

 

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