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Articles

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2022): Visual literacies and visual technologies for teaching, learning and inclusion

Multimodality in medical education: Perspectives on medical shadowing from an experiential learning curriculum

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.304da1f8
Submitted
8 August 2026
Published
15-08-2026

Abstract

When undergraduate students join a premedical programme, they enrol in basic sciences with the rare opportunity to engage in clinical activities. One way to overcome this is a medical shadowing programme aimed at introducing students to important aspects in building their professional identity as future doctors: emotional intelligence and empathy, professionalism, teamwork, and leadership in medicine. As medical shadowing involves students’ constant engagement with various material artefacts in a clinical setting, it makes sense to apply methods that include artefacts, such as multimodal and visual semiotics. Using an inquiry graphics analytical framework inspired by Peircean semiotics, this paper argues for the integration of multimodality in undergraduate medical experiential learning, a scarcely researched area in medical education. Using a case study methodology, this study reports on an analysis of students’ visual representations of the intended learning goals and the applicability of visual artefacts as a tool for reflection on their shadowing experience. This research fills a gap in the literature on the role of multimodality, particularly visual imagery, in fostering new ideas that promote professional identity in medicine. Using data collected from 15 premedical students’ written reflections on their shadowing experience, the study results show students’ heightened awareness of physician attributes and their role in socializing premedical students early in their medical profession. The research findings would benefit premedical education leaders, instructional designers, and curriculum developers and inspire medical educators to embrace multimodality in teaching, learning, and assessment.

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