Summer Talent Garden interns celebrate experience at Hennepin Healthcare
A group of 20 high school juniors and seniors who received paid healthcare internships at Hennepin Healthcare will celebrate the conclusion of their experiences at a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, August 19.
Youth of color who attended one of Hennepin Healthcare’s Black Men with Stethoscopes or Black Women with Stethoscopes Talent Garden events were encouraged to apply for these opportunities to intern at the Level I Trauma Center and public teaching hospital in downtown Minneapolis.
“We received 44 applications for the program,” explained Jim Peters, Program Development Manager, Office of Health Equity at Hennepin Healthcare. “We made 22 offers and 20 accepted. This is the first time we’ve invited youth to get a such a close look at the healthcare careers that they can pursue – and how they can pursue them – and it’s been incredibly successful.”
Interns were given a wide range of educational experiences, including:
- Rotations in the Emergency Department, Department of Medicine, Radiology, Physical Therapy, and Hennepin Healthcare’s Community Clinics
- Hennepin EMS training, including training for the emergency medical responder test (which all 20 interns passed)
- Assisting Welcome Desk services
- Meeting with medical students from the University of Minnesota Medical School
- Executive and leadership shadowing
- Classroom discussions and presentations
Throughout the program, individual interns were paired with a physician or other team leader to answer questions and guide them through their day’s experience. It was a unique opportunity to learn about healthcare careers by seeing firsthand what professionals do in many roles. For some participants who already expressed an interest in medicine, it helped sharpen their career path focus. Here’s what some of them shared about their internship:
“I was already interested in becoming a physician, ” said Albert, a junior from East Ridge High School. “And after spending time shadowing doctors at the Richfield Clinic, I’m very interested in Primary Care.”
Derrick, a senior from Brooklyn Park, met with Hennepin EMS Chief Marty Scheerer, and now wants to pursue the EMT to paramedic program. “It’s cool – why wouldn’t you want to do it?” he said.
The Talent Garden appreciates the support of BCBS of Minnesota for sponsoring the paid internship opportunities for these future healthcare professionals. The successful conclusion of this summer’s internship program will likely spark many conversations and intriguing questions and answers to “how I spent my summer.” For many of these interns, it was most definitely transformational.
What: Lunch Celebration for Talent Garden Interns
Where: Hennepin Healthcare’s Clinic & Specialty Center, Stillman Room
When: 11:30 a.m., Friday, August 19, 2022
Hennepin Healthcare’s Talent Garden inspires and supports historically excluded youth to pursue careers in healthcare. Programs are designed to make big strides in introducing youth to healthcare jobs. The Talent Garden’s purpose is to change the trajectory of their lives and careers through youth summits and hands-on activities, mentorships, experience-based learning, and paid internships. For more information go to www.hennepinhealthcare.org/talentgarden.
