FUTURE DOCS

  is a program sponsored by the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga and Erlanger Health System that includes several different venues through which high school and college students are afforded opportunities to learn more about a career as a physician.

Students can apply to programs that allow them to work with physicians either as a clinical observer or as a researcher.

  individual programs include:

• Youth Leadership Forum - a one week informational and observer program each summer (directed by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society and involving several area hospitals).
• Medical Explorations Program - programmed clinical observation.  General requests for clinical observing experiences in which a student does not have a specific physician in mind will be handled through the Medical Explorations Application.
• Sponsored Clinical Observer - special program that allows a student to observe a specific sponsoring physician or department for a mutually agreeable length of time.  Students requesting this must have already identified and spoken with a specific physician.

Other than these programs, the University of Tennessee and Erlanger do not offer a formal observing experience for students or physicians requesting to observe physicians within the hospital.  Erlanger does offer job shadowing with Erlanger employees but has asked that the UT College of Medicine Chattanooga handle requests to observe physicians.  

Each UTCOMC department may consider an application from a high school or college student for a limited one half-day up to a two-day observing experience.  Approval and availability of any observership are subject to the individual department.  The department may deny the request due to other medical student and resident demands as well as faculty schedules. 

For more information about these programs or to apply, click on the links on the left-hand menu.

Note:  At this time, the UT College of Medicine Chattanooga does not have nurse practitioners or physician assistants on staff and cannot accommodate nurse practitioners or PA students needing clinical rotations.  In addition, the UT College of Medicine Chattanooga does not offer opportunities for physicians to observe. 

Revised 2/15/2012