FACES South Alameda County piloted a new summer program in partnership with Arroyo High School’s Academy of Health and Medicine, San Leandro Hospital, and St. Rose Hospital. Ten rising Seniors from Arroyo HS participated in this 6-week internship program, earning high school credits in the process.
Like in our academic year programs, FACES Arroyo summer students participated in training to prepare them for internship. Students learned about HIPAA, Infection Prevention, Medical Ethics, and Professionalism before earning a Blue Coat to begin internships at the two hospitals. In addition, FACES Arroyo summer program students also worked on their leadership and advocacy skills by leading 30 min group discussions and activities for their peers on Professionalism, Time Management, Self- Care, Diversity in the Workplace, and Leadership.
At San Leandro Hospital, students interned in the Radiology, Surgery, Intensive Care, and Medical-Surgical departments. These job-shadowing opportunities enabled students to learn more about the day-to-day tasks of health professionals at the hospital. In addition, they were able to help with the Medical-Surgical unit’s Fall Prevention and Infection Prevention Projects. Kathy, Nurse Manager of the Medical-Surgical Department, said, “Our students have been amazing and so helpful in promoting two very important initiatives in our unit… Just seeing the smiles on their face and our patients’ faces when they were rounding made me smile. They make such a difference and I hope they know how much we appreciate them helping our unit.”
At St. Rose Hospital, five health scholars interned in a Call Light Project in the Medical-Surgical and Telemetry Departments. Through their participation in the Call Light Project, students had the opportunity to work directly with patients and nurses, helping to ensure that helping to ensure that patients’ needs were met each time the call light was activated. This internship experience at St. Rose Hospital helped students understand the importance of patient-centered care, teamwork, and professional communication. Cindy, FACES health scholar, said, “I am very grateful to have been placed on the fourth floor during these five weeks that I was in the FACES for the Future Summer Program at St. Rose Hospital. I cannot thank FACES enough for all the things I have been able to learn on my journey here the past few weeks. One of the best things about this was that FACES trusted us completely to interact with the patients and take care of their needs.”
Overall, the FACES Arroyo summer program was a great success – thank you to all the students, families, school partners, and hospital mentors that made this pilot possible.