A Deeper Glimpse into the ‘Doctors and Clinicians of Tomorrow’ (DCoT) Program

‘Doctors and Clinicians of Tomorrow’ is beneficial for students looking to pursue the medical field.

Imagine walking through a hospital and seeing a group of young high school students learning about the medical field. This is the Doctors of Tomorrow program funded by the University of Florida Shands Health. The Doctors of Tomorrow club helps deepen these students’ understanding of the medical field and prepares them to pursue careers in health care.

The Doctors and Clinician of Tomorrow (DCoT) club provides students with an opportunity to learn about medicine and gain a better understanding of what they might want to do in the future.

“I think it’s very important because this has allowed kids who knew that they were interested in medicine, and has got them rolling, like our student Christopher Randolph, who is passionate about his internships,” club sponsor Melissa Trujillo said.

University of Florida doctors come in as mentors to help teach the students in the club. They describe their job, what they do, and even provide hands-on experiences to give students a better understanding of what they are learning.

“The fact that the doctors are fantastic, I think they’re easily approachable,” Trujillo said. “Not all doctors are easily approachable, so I think they do a good job of picking out good people to show what they are interested in and are passionate [about].”

The club goes behind the scenes, allowing students to see things they normally would not see. The students are given chances to watch actual doctors perform procedures, ask questions, and even go into simulation labs to try out what they learned.

“Students can get hands-on instruction … like a CPR class where everyone walks out with their CPR certification, which I think is great,” Trujillo said.

The students in the club come from different types of backgrounds. It allows members who may or may not be exposed to the medical field to explore different areas of medicine.

“The club also assists students who are even undecided on what they would like to do in the health care profession,” Trujillo said. “The students can get an insight into the fields and walk away with them, seeing that they could do this.”

The hands-on experience that goes on in the program goes in-depth into what the students are learning. It gives the students an excellent glimpse of how this works in the real world and improves their knowledge and relationship with the medical field.

“Some of the hands-on experience that I get in Doctors of Tomorrow is doing things like learning how to insert an IV, how to do stitches,” sophomore member Sadie Cedarquist said. “The exposure allows me to improve my relationship with medicine because I get to learn something that interests me and get a head start on my future in the medical field.”

The club is considered to have the friendliest and most welcoming members. Every member shares a plan of wanting to pursue medicine, which gives everyone common ground.

“I would describe the members of the club as very friendly and inclusive,” Cedarquist said. “Everyone is very supportive of each other, and I have gained many great friendships from the club.”

The club leaves a real impact on students who desire to pursue occupations within the medical field.

“I love this club. I love this program. I love what it means and what it does for us students like us,” club president Christopher Randolph said. “The comfort of your peers and from the doctors that want to help you has been a great experience for me all four years, and the variety the club brings overall.”

Overall, the club helps students decide on what they would want to pursue in the medical field by giving them glimpses and real-life simulations of a variety of professions. This gives students a deeper understanding of fields of study. Students walk away with retained knowledge of different occupations in the medical field.

“In my four years in this club, I have learned so much about the medical field and its avenues,” Randolph said. “Even though I wanted to go into neurosurgery, I’ve learned so much about other fields so that if I ever do decide to switch out, I’ll still know a little more about other fields.”