"Walking a day in my shoes": a clinical shadowing program to enhance medical students' understanding of chronic disease management beyond clinical settings
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Hilton, Aidan
Jerjes, Waseem
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
AIMS/BACKGROUND: Medical education is largely clinical and biomedical with little emphasis being put upon the social determinants of health (SDH) and patient-centredness. A programme entitled "Walking a Day in My Shoes" was devised as a pilot cohort study with the view of evaluating the impact of a clinical shadowing experience upon the empathy, SDH awareness, and patient-centredness of medical students. METHODS: A prospective cohort study, involving 28 final-year London-area medical students, employing a three-phase teaching programme comprising preparation, observation, and reflection was carried out. Students' confidence in the management of non-medical barriers, SDH awareness, and empathy before and after shadowing were measured using pre- and post-shadowing questionnaires. Qualitative analysis of patient feedback and journals also occurred. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvements were observed in students' empathy (mean score increase from 6.8 to 8.9, p < 0.001), understanding of SDH (advanced comprehension rose from 35% to 93%), confidence in addressing non-clinical barriers (from 39% to 86%), and awareness of logistical challenges (from 31% to 81%). Qualitative analysis highlighted key themes, including systemic barriers (transportation, polypharmacy, and social isolation) and students' increased awareness of the emotional toll of chronic illness. Patients expressed high satisfaction, with 97% agreeing that the programme improved students' understanding of chronic disease management. These findings suggest the programme's practicality and scalability in medical education. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot cohort study demonstrated the significant enhancement of the students' empathy, perception of SDH, and patient-centredness preparation through immersive shadowing. The findings support the use of experiential learning programmes as curricular interventions.
Date Issued
2025-05-01
Date Acceptance
2025-05-08
Citation
Clinics and Practice, 2025, 15 (5)
ISSN
2039-7275
Publisher
MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title
Clinics and Practice
Volume
15
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40422275
Subjects
empathy
experiential learning
medical education
patient-centred care
social determinants of health
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Switzerland
Article Number
94
Date Publish Online
2025-05-13