The Department of Patient Care Services has found a summer formula for success. Through a unique internship program, now in its third year, high school and college students are given the opportunity to take on roles as unit coordinators and business assistants. In turn, full-time BWH staff have more flexibility in taking vacation to spend time with their friends and family. “This program provides a positive experience for these students and ultimately results in a win-win situation,” said Leo Buckley, Jr., director of Business Services, Patient Care Services. “Our student interns are exposed to careers in the medical industry and the hospital is able to provide support for the nurses and staff.”
Robert Croteau, project coordinator, has witnessed incredible growth and development in many of the students over the course of their internship. Croteau, who teaches at Catholic Memorial High School, has had the unique opportunity to prepare students before their summer stint at BWH, and then help them apply their new skills when returning to school in the fall. According to Croteau “this role offers the interns an opportunity to leave a positive impression of BWH on patients and families.” “In the end this program should instill a solid work ethic and vital interpersonal skills that will be useful no matter what career path our students follow,” he said.
While staff in various departments are thrilled to have these students on board, the 30 young men and women in the program are equally excited about their summer opportunity. According to Claudio DeBarros, who will attend Duke University to study pre-medicine this fall, “a day at BWH is one that demands flexiblility and quick-thinking.”
But what DeBarros and one of his fellow interns, Matthew Niles, have enjoyed most is the fast pace of the Emergency Department. “We are asked to wear many shirts here,” said Niles, whose interest in medicine spawned from his father, a neurosurgeon at Faulkner Hospital. As described by Niles, both he and DeBarros were given a unit coordinator and Emergency business assistant uniform, and assume either role based on the ED’s needs. “No matter how busy it is, everyone has taken the opportunity to help us learn and gain a valuable experience here,” he said.