A Zoom meeting on April 11 was led by Nina Bouzamondo-Bernstein, CEO and Founder of Pre-Health Shadowing, for BC’s pre-health students and other students for more information about the organization.

The organization was created during the height of COVID-19, in September 2020. When it was difficult for pre-health students to get their shadowing hours.

“During this time, I was looking for opportunities that were shadowing, clinical, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of those opportunities were annulled,” said Bouzamondo-Bernstein.

This is when and why she created Pre-Health shadowing.

“Created for students by students,” said Bouzamondo-Bernstein.

Pre-Health Shadowing is a student-led, non-profit organization. Comprised of mostly volunteers, some who work synchronously and some asynchronously, virtually. One of the volunteer leaders was also in the meeting, Praneetha Thutika, Lead of Academic Partnership.

Their goal is to create accessible shadowing opportunities for students globally to get the hours needed for medical-based schools and degrees.

The shadowing opportunities are completely free for those who wish to take them. They are also completely available for those who aren’t getting a degree in a medical field but are just curious about the jobs.

Shadowing is important for those who wish to pursue a career in the medical field. It will give the students important insight into specific jobs that they may or may not want to do. It might also help narrow down what a student wants to do specifically.

“A lot of programs can be upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Bouzamondo-Bernstein.

Because of the price tag on most medical degrees, from getting into the school to shadowing programs, Pre-Health Shadowing will be a nice way for even more students to get access to the information they need for certain schools.

All of the shadowing sessions are recorded, so if someone can’t watch them live, they will be available everywhere they have a device.

There is also a chat system for Pre-Health Shadowing, so students who are watching live can communicate live with the medical professional, or if a student is viewing a recording, they can send a message to the medical professional.

At the end of the sessions, there is a post-session assessment, which is a 10-question quiz that can be taken in 30 minutes or less. This quiz will give the student a certificate of completion, which will indicate that the student has completed the shadowing hours from that session.

“Anyone can register and start shadowing today,” said Bouzamondo-Bernstein. The Pre-Health Shadowing website is www.prehealthshadowing.com. You can also contact the organization at undergrad@prehealthshadowing.com.