Hillsborough Community College (HCC) students Tyra-Lee Brett, Carson Cornock, Jordan Shrader and Evelyn Ruiz were the first students to participate in the newly formed physician shadowing program with St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Tyra-Lee, Jordan, Carson and Evelyn first joined the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Pre-Health Chapter while attending classes on the Brandon Campus. Each of them has contributed to AMSA through serving in key leadership roles. Tyra-Lee was the AMSA President during the 2020-2021 year, followed by Carson serving as President in 2021-2022. Carson is currently the AMSA Vice-President of Operations this year. Jordan was the Vice President of Communications for the 2021-2022 year and Evelyn holds the position of Vice-President of Membership for the year.
Tyra-Lee is a first-generation international college student from South Africa who came to HCC to start with a close-knit community while building into the American curriculum. It became the decision that made her the happiest. Carson started with dual enrollment classes knowing he wanted to come to HCC for the professors and community he knew he needed. Evelyn is a first-generation college student who came to HCC as a financial decision and gained a community. “It was the best decision. I met good people and professors. It felt like I wouldn’t have gotten that if I had gone to a large university,” Evelyn said. Jordan is also a first-generation college student who enrolled for academics while enlisted in the Navy, but knew she liked the multiple campuses as options to get involved within the community.
Under the leadership of Tyra-Lee, the 2022 AMSA Research Committee conducted a study to assess the preparedness of HCC students for the medical application process. Results of the research indicated that many of our HCC students did not have access to as many resources and opportunities to build a competitive medical school application compared to students at four-year institutions which often have partnerships with local hospital groups.
As a part of the college community, “We are going to help the students who may not have those connections,” Tyra-Lee said. The physician shadowing program was created to help bridge the gap for underrepresented students to gain access to medical school applications, resources and opportunities. Shadowing hours are key to building a competitive medical school application profile.
In fall 2022, Tyra-Lee and Carson were asked to give a presentation on AMSA initiatives at the Brandon Campus President’s Advisory Board meeting in which they met Phil Minden, President of St. Joseph’s Hospital. Wanting to provide other HCC pre-health students with the opportunity to gain physician shadowing experience, Tyra-Lee presented Mr. Minden with a proposal for a physician shadowing program with St. Joseph’s Hospital. During their first meeting to discuss the proposal with Mr. Minden, Tyra-Lee, Carson and their Faculty Advisor, Beth McCullough, were pleasantly surprised that Mr. Minden was already on board and willing to allow students to shadow and learn the hospital’s inner workings.
“It was nice that someone wanted to help, we were heard and seen, and someone said, ‘Okay we’ll figure this out,’” Tyra-Lee said. Making this proposal and meeting with the President of the hospital took initiative and displayed student leadership.
Carson advised, “Go outside your comfort zone. What you get from putting yourself out there is crazy. You won’t know where you’ll be if you stay in your bubble,” he said. “Pursue your passion, find what works for you.”
In February 2023, the HCC AMSA Physician Shadowing Program officially commenced. Tyra-Lee, Carson, Jordan and Evelyn were the first AMSA students who were selected to participate in the program. Students rotated through four hospital departments (anesthesiology, emergency medicine, hospitalist and interventional radiology) shadowing different specialties so that they could see a broad range of healthcare specialists and experience a physician’s shift from start to end. For the semester, each student gained 48 hours of physician shadowing which contributed to enhancing their academic resume. Jordan said, “It opened my eyes to what a physician accomplishes in a shift, introduced me to unknown physician careers and expanded my base knowledge.”
“A call to action is seeing a place in the community to help students with those goals, we can only change the world as much as the admins allow us,” Brett said.
Evelyn advised that call to action, “Get engaged, there are opportunities for everyone. Be engaged and most opportunities will come your way.” The shadowing program further enables students to gain first-hand knowledge on being a physician and determine if this is the career they wish to pursue. All the students had the opportunity to observe rounding, surgery and what it takes behind the scenes to manage a patient’s care. “Ask all the questions that you can, the physicians are kind and willing to teach you,” Jordan added.
Tyra-Lee is now an HCC alumnus currently attending the University of South Florida and plans to stay connected with the program’s expansion. She and her peers believe that there’s room for growth. They hope to implement additional shadowing programs with other hospitals to continue to bridge the gap for more students.
“To all HCC students, pursue your passion, do what you want for your life,” Brett said.
Tyra-Lee, Carson, Evelyn, and Jordan thank Professor Beth McCullough, Dr. Deborah Kish-Stephan, and the St. Joseph’s Hospital administration for their support of a student’s idea.
“Go outside your bubble, form relationships with your professors and meet your peers to form long-lasting friendships and learn about your life,” Evelyn said.
The second cohort of HCC AMSA members are now participating in the physician shadowing program. The success of this program started with one student’s idea, a research project and has now expanded into three years of research, including eight other higher education institutions across the country and it all started at HCC. “If you have the power to empower students, go do it and be the change,” Tyra-Lee said.
For more information on HCC’s physician shadowing program, please contact Beth McCullough at emccullough@hccfl.edu.