Saint Mary's runs summer shadowing program

Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury has spent several summers turning student shadowing into a formal hospital program rather than a one-off physician observation slot. Trinity Health of New England said the hospital’s Summer Shadowing Program began with a pilot in 2022 and was back for a second year in 2023, before expanding further in 2025. Local coverage this week said the program has now reached its fifth year in 2026. The program is aimed at middle- and high-school students and is built around short, supervised rotations through multiple parts of the hospital. Saint Mary’s has described the goal as introducing Waterbury students to healthcare careers through direct exposure to hospital staff, departments and daily workflow. That structure matters because it looks less like informal shadowing hours and more like an institutional pipeline. (trinityhealthofne.org) Saint Mary’s has tied the effort to community partners, workforce groups and, more recently, college-age mentoring programs, suggesting the hospital is treating shadowing as part of a broader recruitment and outreach strategy. ### How is this different from the usual idea of “shadowing”? (trinityhealthofne.org) Saint Mary’s described the 2025 version as a weeklong program that immersed students in 11 departments, including surgery, radiology, the Women and Infants Center and the laboratory. Students also took part in breakout sessions covering clinical engineering, pharmacy and emergency medical services, according to the hospital. (trinityhealthofne.org) In 2023, the hospital said students met physicians in one-on-one mentoring sessions, learned how clinical engineering supports daily operations and received Stop the Bleed instruction. The program that year ran in one-week, half-day blocks for middle school and high school participants. The result is a broader view of hospital work than traditional doctor-following. Saint Mary’s has repeatedly framed the program around both clinical and non-clinical roles, and students have been exposed to ambulance operations, suturing practice, CPR and hospital support functions as well as bedside care. (trinityhealthofne.org) ### Who has been involved so far? Saint Mary’s said the 2025 program served 15 students from Crosby High School, Pomperaug High School, Waterbury Arts Magnet School and Waterbury Career Academy. (trinityhealthofne.org) In 2023, the hospital said it worked with Brass City Charter School, Crosby High School, Granville Academy and Grace Baptist Church. Shawna Edwards, the hospital’s chief nursing officer, has been one of the main public faces of the effort. (trinityhealthofne.org) In 2025, she said the program’s growth reflected a mission to “spark curiosity and passion for healthcare careers,” while in 2023 she said students benefited from “personal, quality time” with healthcare professionals. Ana Goncalves of the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board and Judge Maurice B. (trinityhealthofne.org) Mosley of Granville Academy also publicly backed the 2023 program. Mosley said the exposure let students see healthcare professionals “that look like them,” according to Saint Mary’s press release. ### Why does the hospital keep building on it? Saint Mary’s has linked the shadowing effort to a wider workforce pipeline. (trinityhealthofne.org) The hospital said in 2023 that internships were added for high school students through a partnership with the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, and in 2025 it said the shadowing program was part of a broader Northwest Healthcare Regional Sector Partnership initiative. (trinityhealthofne.org) In January 2026, Saint Mary’s brought in nine Waterbury Promise scholars from colleges across Connecticut for a separate shadow program covering the laboratory, emergency room, clinical engineering, radiology and nursing education. In February 2026, the hospital launched Waterbury Promise Plus, a mentorship program for aspiring healthcare workers that President Robert Roose said was designed to tailor experience to a student’s path. (trinityhealthofne.org) Those additions show the summer program is no longer operating on its own. Saint Mary’s has connected middle-school exposure, high-school shadowing and college-level mentoring under the same community-engagement umbrella. ### If another hospital wanted to copy this, what would it need? Saint Mary’s already has a Volunteer Services channel in Waterbury, listed by 211 Connecticut at 56 Franklin Street. (trinityhealthofne.org) The hospital’s volunteer operation assigns people to support roles across hospital departments, and outside listings say applications run through the Volunteer Services Department. The Saint Mary’s model suggests a hospital does not need to rely on ad hoc physician favors to offer student exposure. The program has been built through a volunteer office, school relationships and named outside partners, with the hospital itself setting the schedule, departments and training sessions. (trinityhealthofne.org) Saint Mary’s next visible steps are likely to come through those same channels. Trinity Health of New England has continued posting updates on its newsroom page, while Waterbury Promise and the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board remain named partners in the hospital’s student programs. (211ct.org) (trinityhealthofne.org 1) (trinityhealthofne.org 2)