News Releases

505 Students Participate in NEONI Healthcare Career Shadowing

Since 2002 the NEONI Healthcare Career Shadowing Program has been providing high school students with the opportunity to spend one day job shadowing in a real-life healthcare workplace environment to learn first-hand about local healthcare career opportunities. Throughout the past 11 years, nearly 6,000 high school students have seized the opportunity to have this experience. The 2012-2013 NEONI Healthcare Career Shadowing Program, which ended in May, included participation from 505 Northeast Ohio high school juniors and seniors. 

The Shadowing Program continues to generate positive feedback from both the students who participate and the volunteer healthcare professionals they shadow. 

“It’s wonderful that so many local healthcare professionals are willing to spend time teaching high school students first-hand about their career,” said Sue Zagula, director, placement services, The Center for Health Affairs/NEONI. “We’re happy to see so many high school students taking advantage of the opportunity.” 

Based on a NEONI survey of 70 students who participated in the NEONI Healthcare Career Shadowing Program, 87 percent agreed the experience was helpful in increasing their knowledge of a chosen healthcare profession in the hospital setting, 85 percent agreed the experience was helpful in making a career decision and 92 percent would recommend the experience to others who are interested in a healthcare profession. 

When asked for feedback in this anonymous survey, student participants expressed how grateful they were for the opportunity, one student said, “I was able to experience a lot, which helped me narrow down my areas of interest. It was a wonderful experience.” Another one said, “The nurse I shadowed did an excellent job explaining her typical day to me, and was more than willing to answer all my questions.” 

Students from more than 60 schools across Northeast Ohio spent a day interacting with professional healthcare practitioners from 18 area hospitals. 

NEONI’s Healthcare Career Shadowing Program allows high school juniors and seniors to job shadow in the fields of nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, radiology and respiratory therapy. The program is offered at no charge to both students and schools. 

Plans for next year’s Shadowing Program are already underway and NEONI encourages high school guidance counselors to visit www.neoni.org to learn how they can help engage their high school’s juniors and seniors in this program. 

If you have questions about NEONI’s Healthcare Career Shadowing Program, please contact Sue Zagula at sue.zagula@chanet.org or 216.255.3664.