Reflection on near-peer shadowing program: impact on operating room student's perception of their future profession

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Professional Development

Background:

• Reflection is crucial for learning from clinical experiences and managing professional development challenges.
• Student reflections on clinical exposure provide valuable insights into their learning process.
• This study assessed Operating Room (OR) students' reflections on their initial clinical shadowing experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reflections of Operating Room freshmen on their first clinical exposure via a shadowing program.
• To understand how shadowing experiences shape students' perceptions of their future profession.
• To identify key themes in students' reflections regarding professional identity and development.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative analysis was conducted on 50 unstructured written reflections from OR freshmen.
• Participants were from Zahedan and Zabol Universities of Medical Sciences, Iran.
• Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the de-identified reflections.

Main Results:

• Four main themes emerged: approaching professional realities, realizing professional identity, managing emotions related to career desirability, and achieving professional excellence.
• Ten subthemes were identified within these main themes.
• Students' reflections highlighted the stimulating and valuable nature of the OR environment.

Conclusions:

• Shadowing programs offer a stimulating and valuable learning opportunity for OR students.
• The experience improved students' perception of their future profession's realities.
• Clinical shadowing initiated the realization of professional identity and planning for future development.