Healthcare Internships Kindle Career Aspirations for NYC Teens

NYC students complete Northwell's immersive healthcare internship program. Lenox Hill Hospital hosted a celebratory event honoring 65 high school students who completed the inaugural FutureReadyNYC health care internship program, a collaboration between Northwell Health and New York City Public Schools.

Program Structure and Hands-on Experience

During the intensive seven-week program, interns from Hillcrest High School, the Urban Assembly School for Emergency Management, the High School for Health Professions and Human Services, and the International High School for Health Sciences took part in 80-hour internships. These rotations included hospital tours, skills-based workshops, mentorships, and hands-on demonstrations at three Northwell Health facilities:

• Lenox Hill Hospital
• Lenox Health Greenwich Village
• Long Island Jewish Forest Hills

Job shadowing nurses, EMTS, and lab techs this spring gave inaugural FutureReadyNYC interns insight into careers in medicine. The immersive curriculum included health care roundtable discussions where students partnered with professional practitioners to learn about topics ranging from phlebotomy to lab safety. Furthermore, interns participated in EMS and nursing rotations where they learned to take vital signs, administer CPR, and use automated external defibrillators. Students also donned scrubs to shadow medical professionals who performed procedures, cared for patients in the emergency room and tended to those in extreme distress.

Impact on Career Readiness

“FutureReadyNYC gave students, who largely attended high school remotely throughout the pandemic, valuable firsthand experience in the medical field,” said Brian Aquart, vice president of workforce and community education at Northwell Health. “These interns took full advantage of this learning opportunity, and I am sure many will use this as a solid foundation for a successful career in health care.”

The mentorship had immediate effects on influencing students' long-term goals. Ambilica Baldeo, a student at Hillcrest High School and FutureReadyNYC intern, shared her experience: “I wanted to go into the medical field, but I was not sure as to what I wanted to do. This internship gave me an overview of what other possibilities I could do. There are different things you can do in health care, and they are not what you’d expect.”

Isabel Lopez, a student from the High School of Health Professions and Human Services, added: “Before participating in the Northwell Health internship, I was unclear what I wanted to do as career. The nursing rotation was an eyeopener for me and now I want to be a nurse.” To further support this, Mrs. Woolforde spoke about using nursing mentors as a part of the curriculum to help inspire future nurses.

The Future of the Initiative

FutureReadyNYC, a part of the Student Pathways Initiative, is focused on putting each student on a path to a rewarding, engaging career, as well as financial independence and long-term economic security. This collaboration with NYC Public Schools will grow career-connected learning and allow students to get early college credit, real-world skills and paid work experiences in high-growth fields like health care, technology and education. This school year, the program's reach will expand significantly:

• More than 30 high schools will participate in the program.
• The initiative is reaching approximately 5,000 students.