It has been a very busy fall in Sacramento as we enter our second year of the FACES Sacramento program. Thirteen of our second-year FACES students, hailing from Health Professions High School and Hiram Johnson High School, began interning in October at Mercy San Juan Medical Center (MSJMC), a hospital within the Dignity Health system. Students are completing rotations within two different departments – Imaging/Radiology and Medical/Surgical Nursing.
In the Radiology department, students have been learning from the incredible radiology team about the different modalities, including MRI, CT, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, transportation, and Interventional Radiology. As part of the patient wellness team, they have also been improving patient care by helping patients understand their procedures and providing them with thank you notes post-procedure.
Students interning in the nursing unit have been uplifting patient morale as part of the Kindness Crew, while also learning about careers in nursing. Rotating between the oncology, acute care, telemetry, and psychiatric unit, students are able to see a wide range of care provision. The students round each week on patients to provide them with quiet kits, warm blankets, hospital information, and other supplies to help make their time in the hospital more comfortable. After completing rounds, students shadow and assist nurses in their daily tasks, learning firsthand about the day to day responsibilities of a nurse.
Through Dignity Health’s commitment to educating the next generation of health providers, students have the chance to hone their patient communication skills, learn about the different educational pathways within the hospital system, and gain invaluable behind the scenes shadowing experience with mentors from a variety of backgrounds. Talitha, a senior at Health Professions High School, commented, “My experience with Paul the RN [at MSJMC] was better than I ever expected. I learned a lot from him just from listening to his experiences.”
We are so thankful for this new partnership with Dignity Health and MSJMC because it allows our students to learn about large hospital health care delivery, while also helping to improve patient experience.
In other news, the Sacramento program accepted fifteen new FACES scholars from Hiram Johnson and Health Professions High School who have been completing their boot camp FACES training during the past month. Among the highlights this year are lessons about culturally responsible care, taught by our second year FACES students, discussions about how ethical decision making influences medical care, and a day spent building teamwork and leadership skills at a ropes course at Sacramento State University. These new FACES scholars are celebrating the completion of their training at our Blue Coat Ceremony on Thursday and begin internship with our community health organization partners in January.
Written by Alice Curchin, Program Coordinator of FACES Sacramento, 12/12/2017