# Apprenticeship Experience (APEX) Program and Self-Directed Shadowing

The APEX Program is curricular programming designed to kickstart early career exploration through clinical shadowing. Within the first week of medical school, all 1st year medical students will have four shadowing assignments that they will schedule within the first semester. You will complete a form to rank your specialty preferences and will be assigned 3 different specialties to shadow. The fourth shadowing experience is a 3-hour shift in the Emergency Department. You will be given contact information, template emails and specific guidance for how to set these opportunities up. Each specialty involved in APEX has an APEX Champion which is a faculty member who is a point of contact for the APEX shadowing opportunities and those contacts are in specialty specific sections below. Questions about APEX can be sent to [APEX@mssm.edu](mailto:apex@mssm.edu). 

The goal is to give you experiences and resources that you can then use to schedule self-directed shadowing experiences on your own time. Early shadowing helps confirm interests and helps students connect with current trainees and program leaders to get insight into the daily lives of practitioners in those specialties. Your Career Advisor is a resource to go to if you are looking for shadowing experiences by connecting you with faculty in the specialty of your choice.  

## APEX Overview:

{% embed url="<https://ismms-md-program.gitbook.io/medical-student-handbook/academic-information-and-resources/ascend-curriculum-overview/clinical-apprenticeship-experience-apex>" %}


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