ABOUT BHEI
The Beharrie Healthcare Education Initiative
Bridging Clinical Exposure, Mentorship, and Healthcare Education
The Beharrie Healthcare Education Initiative (BHEI) is a structured clinical shadowing and healthcare education program designed to provide university students pursuing healthcare careers with meaningful exposure to the clinical environment.
Through a combination of supervised hands-on learning, physician observation, clinical discussion, mentorship, and progressive responsibility, BHEI introduces students to patient care while helping them develop the confidence, communication, and foundational skills that will support their future healthcare education.
Our Educational Model
BHEI combines practical clinical instruction with physician-led medical education. Students learn both how a pediatric practice functions and how physicians approach the patients and clinical information within it
Physician- Led Medical Education
Students observe pediatric nephrology patient encounters and participate in discussions surrounding patient presentations, diagnoses, laboratory findings, medications, treatment decisions, and follow-up planning. Pre- and post-encounter discussions help students connect the information gathered during clinical intake with physician evaluation and medical decision-making.
As the program progresses, students are increasingly challenged to think about the clinical information they encounter rather than simply observe it, culminating in a physician-led oral assessment at the completion of the five-day experience.
Hands- On Clinical Guidance
Students receive direct guidance in the practical skills and professional behaviors used throughout the clinic day. Instruction includes obtaining and documenting vital signs, performing and recording urinalysis, communicating with pediatric patients and their parents or guardians, understanding patient flow, preparing for history-taking, and learning how clinical and administrative responsibilities work together within a medical practice.
As students progress, guidance is gradually reduced so they can practice familiar responsibilities with increasing confidence while remaining appropriately supervised
Our Purpose
Creating Opportunities to Learn Before Post-Graduate School
Many aspiring healthcare professionals seek clinical exposure long before entering medical or other professional healthcare programs. Traditional shadowing provides an important opportunity to observe healthcare professionals at work, but BHEI was developed to create a more structured educational experience around that exposure.
Students are not expected to enter the program with clinical experience. Instead, they are introduced to the clinical environment progressively—beginning with orientation, observation, and foundational instruction before advancing through supervised practice, patient communication, clinical documentation, history-taking, peer mentorship, and physician-led learning.
The goal is to give students an early understanding of the responsibilities, communication, teamwork, and continuous learning involved in caring for patients while providing a supportive environment in which they can ask questions, develop confidence, and explore their future in healthcare.
An Experience Designed to Build a Foundation
BHEI is designed so that students leave with more than a record of time spent in a clinical environment. Through five progressive program days, students gain early exposure to the skills, communication, professionalism, teamwork, clinical reasoning, and educational expectations that accompany careers in healthcare.
PROGRAM FOUNDER & COORDINATOR
Meet the Person Behind BHEI
Alejandra Beharrie is the Founder and Program Coordinator of the Beharrie Healthcare Education Initiative (BHEI). She conceived and developed the initiative, including its five-day educational structure, progressive clinical learning model, student experience, mentorship approach, and daily experience-verification process. BHEI was created to provide aspiring healthcare professionals with meaningful clinical exposure that extends beyond traditional observation while maintaining appropriate guidance and supervision.
As the Practice Manager and Medical Assistant of AAGA Medical Services, Alejandra provides the primary hands-on clinical instruction throughout the program. She introduces students to clinical workflow and teaches foundational skills including obtaining and documenting vital signs, performing urinalysis, reporting clinical information, communicating with pediatric patients and their parents or guardians, and preparing for structured patient history-taking.
She oversees each student's progression through the five-day experience, structures the clinic day, assigns appropriate patient experiences based on the student's program day and demonstrated readiness, and supervises hands-on participation. As students advance, she gradually encourages greater confidence and responsibility while introducing opportunities for peer mentorship and leadership.
Her instruction also extends beyond direct patient interaction. Students are introduced to the operational side of a medical practice, including patient flow, scheduling, medical administration, insurance processes, and the coordination between administrative, clinical, and physician responsibilities. Through this combined approach, she provides students with a broader understanding of how the different components of an outpatient medical practice work together to support patient care.
"Throughout my years working in a pediatric specialty practice, I came to appreciate that many of the lessons shaping exceptional healthcare professionals are learned outside the classroom. They are found in everyday interactions with patients, families, physicians, nurses, office staff, and the countless professionals working behind the scenes to deliver quality care. I created BHEI to give students access to those experiences earlier in their journey. If we can help students enter their clinical training with greater confidence, professionalism, and understanding of patient-centered care, then we've already helped shape the healthcare providers they will become."
Alejandra A. Beharrie
-Practice Manager & Medical Assistant
AAGA Medical Services, INC.
-Founder & Program Coordinator
Beharrie Healthcare Education Initiative
Partnered with AAGA Medical Services
