Skip to content
ApplyGive

Other ways to search: Events Calendar | UTHSC News

Observers

Erlanger Job Shadowing Program

Our partners at Erlanger offer a healthcare Job Shadowing Program that allows up to 20 hours of observation time within various healthcare career tracks. Job shadowing opportunities are approved on an individual case basis to students who:

    • Are 16 years or older (Those who wish to observe in emergency departments, ICU's, women's services, or any part of the Children's Hospital must be 18 years or older and a high school graduate)

Documentation Requirements

    • Complete the job shadowing application;
    • Provide documentation of MMR and Varicella (chickenpox) immunization;
    • Provide documentation of negative TB skin test or negative chest x-ray within the last 12 months;
    • Provide documentation of flu vaccine if shadowing between October and March.

Erlanger Health System will make every effort to accommodate job shadowing requests provided space and staff are available. Please direct any questions about the program to jobshadowing@erlanger.org.

Note: Observing experiences cannot be approved for a medical student in the last two years of medical school. Physicians cannot be approved to observe physicians.

The UT Health Science Center College of Medicine-Chattanooga offers two paths for observing students ages 18 or older who are not yet in their clinical years of medical school

Sponsored Clinical Observer Program

Observers must be non-medical students who want to observe or shadow a physician. These experiences are limited to one or two days with faculty physicians within our primary clinical training site at Erlanger.

The UT Health Science Center College of Medicine-Chattanooga oversees this program, where students may observe faculty physicians who also hold medical staff appointments within Erlanger.

This experience is for clinical observation only and cannot involve any hands-on clinical patient care (including physical exams, procedures, etc.), nor direct access to the hospital electronic health record. The University is not responsible for requests for students asking to observe Erlanger physicians who do not hold UT Health Science Center faculty appointments.

UTC Pre-Med Program

In collaboration with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Pre-Med Program, our institution also sponsors a longitudinal two-semester pre-med elective with a curriculum that provides one elective credit hour at in the UTC undergraduate program. Students are selected each year through a stringent application and review process by UTC Pre-Med Advisors and our Associate Dean/DIO. Students are interviewed in May of the academic year and, if accepted, must agree to register in the elective for two Semesters (Fall and Spring). The course/program is limited to six students in their junior year.

The UT Health Science Center College of Medicine-Chattanooga does not offer opportunities for physicians to observe our faculty, residents, and fellow physicians.  

  • The College of Medicine-Chattanooga cannot accommodate nurse practitioner students or PA students from other universities requesting clinical rotations beyond the UT Health Science Center Memphis PA students assigned to our campus for their year-long clinical rotations (January through November each year).  
  • Nursing students, Nurse Practitioner students, or PA students who wish to request clinical rotations at Erlanger must submit requests through the Erlanger Job Shadowing Program. Erlanger requires a clinical agreement between each university/program. These are not coordinated by the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine-Chattanooga.
  • All sponsored clinical observing experiences with faculty physicians  do not involve hands-on clinical care; only observing/job shadowing.  

Future Docs

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society sponsors a career exploration opportunity called "Future Docs."

Future Docs student participants in white coats

The program is for high school graduates and college students to explore different specialties and get a hands-on experience closer to the field of medicine.

View the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society website for more information.

Dec 2, 2025