Alert

Shadowing

Shadow Program – PAUSED

  • All shadow visitors previously scheduled and any future shadow requests are being paused until post COVID-19 to ensure patient safety.
  • We will announce the RESUMED date here on the shadow webpage.
  • Thank you for your cooperation in helping us ensure we are providing a safe and healing environment for our patients.

UNC Medical Center Volunteer Services does not arrange placement for shadow visitors. Interested parties must contact hospital departments directly to set up shadow experiences. After a department agrees to work with a shadow visitor, the preceptor and visitor must follow the directions below.
For shadowing Rehabilitation Therapies (PT, OT, CL, RT, SLP, AuD and MT), please email clinicaledreq@unchealth.unc.edu

ALL PEDS shadow requests must come from Lynn West (lynn_west@med.unc.edu) in the Pediatrics Education Office. Peds requests not from her will NOT be processed.

Note

Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older to shadow.

Please do not email or fax your immunization records to Volunteer Services; bring them with you at the time you pick up your shadow badge. Also, please make sure you make a copy of your records before turning them into our office. We will not provide you with a copy at a later date. All records must be in English.

Requirements and Forms

If you are interested in shadowing, you must complete all the following steps:

  • All shadow visitors, please read the Shadow Visitor Policies
  • Complete the HIPAA Training. You will receive a confirmation email. Print this email.

    How to Take this Course:

    UNC Health offers the following tips to ensure successful completion of the non-employee module:

    1. Please use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome to complete the module
    2. If you are using a MAC, please use Firefox, as Safari causes known errors
    3. Please do not take this module on a cellphone or tablet
    4. Clicking too quickly through the module can cause the module to freeze up
  • Print a Shadow Visitor Immunization Verification form and have it completed by your health care provider OR bring your immunization records as proof using this Checklist.
    • You may pick up your badge and turn in your Immunization Verification Form completed by your physician, or hard copy records using the immunization checklist as a guide, to Volunteer Services 24 business hours or more after we have received the email request from your preceptor.
  • Please contact your preceptor at least one day prior to your scheduled shadowing time to confirm that your request has been emailed to our office. You will have to reschedule your shadow visit if we do not have the completed request from the preceptor.
  • The Volunteer Services Department is open for badge pick-up Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. We are not available on weekends to process or pick-up badge requests. We are located in Memorial Hospital on the Ground Floor.
  • NOTE: Shadowing is not permitted in operating rooms.
  • Current Medical Center volunteers (compliant and actively volunteering) and employees do not need to complete the HIPAA module or immunization review. Volunteers and employees need to pick up a shadow badge at least 24 business hours after a request has been submitted by their preceptor. Employee badges cannot be worn during shadowing.

To the Preceptor

Please read the Shadow Visitor Policies. Please note that there are multiple HIPAA modules. Make sure the visitor is directed to the Shadow Module and not the Medical School HIPAA test.

Send an email to Volunteer Services with the following information:

  • Name of Shadow Visitor
  • Preceptor's Name, Department, and Contact Phone Number
  • Date(s) of the visit - beginning and ending (not to exceed 6 weeks)

Emails must be received at least 24 business hours in advance.

ALL PEDS shadow requests must come from Lynn West (lynn_west@med.unc.edu) in the Pediatrics Education Office. Peds requests not from her will NOT be processed.

Serve Others 

Serve others in a meaningful way and learn about the many career opportunities offered in a health care setting through UNC Medical Center's Volunteer Services.

Volunteer Stories

  • Sock Monkeys

    After decades crafting sock monkeys for pediatric patients at UNC Hospitals, Nidia Scharlock was honored in November with a ceremony at the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill and the dedication of a cow named Mookie.

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  • UNC Tar Heel Paws Pet Dog

    Meet Maggie May, a soulful rescue dog who co-volunteers with Garry Lipson. Maggie began volunteering at UNC when she was two. From the beginning of her first assignment in the Children’s Hospital, she seemed to know her job. 

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  • Volunteer

    Why I Volunteer: By Angelina Gayle - Ronald McDonald House Volunteer

    I want to touch the lives of as many people as I can through volunteering. I encourage everyone to volunteer and impact the life of another as well as make a difference one day at a time, one person at a time.