University of Nebraska Medical Center provides an event called Shadow Saturday which gives students the opportunity to learn more in depth about medical laboratory science professions and also allowed UNMC to recruit future students into their program.  

Shadow Saturday happens every year usually in the fall, but this year the event took place April 13 at UNMC. It was open to all high school and college students who may be interested in science, healthcare, or laboratory work but want to know more about it.  

The event also provided an opportunity to see different career paths in the medical field that aren’t only about doctors or nurses. “Many people do not know what we do which is why outreach events like Shadow Saturday are so important,” said Kevin McGuire, an assistant professor at UNMC. 

In this event, participants were able to engage in hands-on laboratory activities and interactive sessions to learn about what medical laboratory scientists do every day. Some of these things allow the students to work with laboratory equipment such as microscopes and centrifuges to perform real testing in areas of clinical chemistry. 

Some of the advantages students can take away from this event are gaining practical knowledge about laboratory procedures, the opportunity to see what a medical laboratory science student does daily and overall exposure to this medical field. Students can even gain networking opportunities by interacting with current staff and students who work at UNMC.  

“We provide individuals an opportunity to walk in the shoes of an MLS for a few hours,” McGuire said.  

UNMC also provides other events that are similar to Shadow Saturday, such as Backstage Pass or Nebraska Medicine Job Shadow Program. Both events allow people interested in health sciences to explore other career paths they may not have thought of or known about before.