SPEC 19
Exploring Healthcare Winter 2024

This is not the current course catalog

Experience in a healthcare environment is essential to exploring the health professions. Through this experiential course, students have an opportunity to clarify their understanding of the rewards and challenges of the practice of allopathic and osteopathic medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, allied health professions, or public health. Students will participate in an intensive shadowing internship through a self-identified placement in a geographic location of their choosing. Generally, a shadowing experience focuses on provider-patient interactions within out-patient and in-patient settings. These experiences provide students with the opportunity to observe clinical interactions and to learn about the systems within which healthcare is delivered. Students will be introduced to fundamental concepts related to patient interviewing, diagnosis, and medical decision making. This course will encourage participants to reflect on their healthcare experiences with a dual focus: from the perspective of the individual provider-patient relationship and within a systems-level context. Weekly didactic sessions will expose students to broader perspectives in healthcare. By the end of the course, students will demonstrate greater understanding of the fundamentals of patient-provider interactions, clinical diagnosis, patient interviewing, and/or factors affecting the health of individuals and communities. They will write a final reflective paper on their experiences. Students are welcome to participate in self-sourced shadowing or volunteering internships in a geographic area where they have housing and transportation, or will have the opportunity to be placed in the Williamstown area. Students can express interest in this course by filling out this google form by October 15: https://airtable.com/app9x9EE4VJdUmTlf/shrC7EQ2pEOK6CuFm