What medical students learn from shadowing chaplains

This paper presents findings from a study of medical student reflections on a shadowing experience with hospital chaplains aimed to promote students' understanding of the importance of spirituality in patient care and the role of chaplains on a medical care team. Through a deductive content analysis, we identified key themes providing evidence that this shadowing experience increases student knowledge about spirituality, the role of chaplains, and meets the standards set forth in the National Competencies in Spirituality and Health for Medical Education. Exemplary quotes from student reflections demonstrate how they processed their experience. The student reflections consistently identified the value of the chaplain within health care, the importance of spirituality in patient care, and how this shadowing experience shaped their own Professional Identity Formation.