For the third straight year, Saint Mary’s Hospital hosted the Summer Student Shadowing Program for Waterbury middle and high school students. The goal of the program remained the same; to introduce the city’s young people to careers in health care. The program is a community-driven collaboration involving partners from Brass City Charter School, Crosby High School, Granville Academy and Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board.
Surgical Residents provide instructions on suturing 101 to Crosby High School students during the Summer Shadowing program.
The first of the one-week, half-day sessions ran from June 24 through June 28 for middle school students from the Brass City Charter School. The second session from July 15 through July 19 brought in students from Crosby High School. The sessions were designed to expose students to various health care disciplines, both clinical and non-clinical. In addition to time with department leaders in clinical engineering, radiology, pharmacy and others, students attended firsthand breakout sessions focused on a particular specialty or department. For instance, students participated in CPR and Stop The Bleed® training and were introduced to emergency medical services, getting an inside look at an ambulance and time with EMTs. Also on the agenda was suturing instruction with medical residents, and time with an internal medicine physician learning how to conduct a patient exam.
Once again, Saint Mary’s Hospital partnered with the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board (NRWIB) to include internships, along with the job shadowing for high school students. It is part of a larger initiative of the Northwest Healthcare Regional Sector Partnership, in collaboration with local and regional hospitals and healthcare providers to encourage interest in health care careers amongst high school students.
Several returning students, selected for internships, who have a particular field of interest were partnered with department leaders for a more personalized experience. Both the middle school and high school sessions had returning students fitting into this category. While the NRWIB is providing internship funding for high school students, Saint Mary’s is providing internships to middle school students.
