Annie Saelee, a student at Sacramento High School (seated, right), gets a hands-on demonstration about the job of a microbiologist from Janet Kashiwada at the Department of Microbiology as part of last Thursday's job-shadowing day at UC Davis Medical Center. More than 20 students involved in their high school's three-year Health Careers Academy were invited through Faith Paul, director of educational outreach initiatives, and Barbara Ross, manager of UC Davis Health Systems community relations, to observe health professionals doing their jobs. The students are preparing themselves for both entry-level jobs after high school and college-health programs. Almost two-dozen medical center staff members in jobs ranging from medical interpreting to occupational safety, clinical engineering and patient escort volunteered their time to be shadowed by a student as they performed routine tasks. Job shadowing is used to give teen-agers a realistic exposure to the duties of particular jobs.