The Shadowing/Observership Program is currently open to a limited quantity of Penn Undergraduate students at this time, thank you for understanding.

The Agnew Society has developed a shadowing program to encourage and facilitate exploration of surgical careers early in medical education. Through the program, pre-clinical students interested in Surgery will have the opportunity to observe faculty members in the operating room and during office hours. This is a unique opportunity to meet and observe surgical attending physicians and become comfortable in the field, without the pressure of grades or evaluations.

Participating faculty members and their contact information are listed below. Please be sure to contact the surgeon (or their listed contact) in advance and schedule a mutually acceptable time. Please remember to keep your appointment as the faculty members on this list have generously offered their time. To derive the most benefit from your experience, we encourage you to schedule your visit at a time when you can devote at least 2-3 hours.

Please note that some attendings are only able to accommodate students in the operating room OR during office hours. In order to shadow with us, you must complete the onboarding process at least 1-2 weeks prior to your start date. 

First, you should reach out to an attending in the Department of Surgery to schedule 1-2 weeks to shadow with them. Once you have confirmed dates, you will fill out the Observership (Shadowing) Program Interest Form and the Periop Agreement and return them to Zayyan Snell at zayyan.snell@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. When you send in your forms, you should also provide proof of your Flu Shot and a Negative TB result dated within 1 year of your start date and proof of your COVID vaccine. Finally, please login to Knowledge Link and send the certificate for your HIPAA training.

For other questions, please contact the Undergraduate Medical Education Coordinator, Zayyan Snell at zayyan.snell@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

Be sure to dress appropriately for the office (business casual is appropriate) while scrubs are required in the OR. In both settings, a white coat should be worn, and, of course, professional behavior is of utmost importance in any clinical setting.

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