Sixteen high school and early college students spent this summer at Ascension St. Joseph Hospital learning that healthcare is more than what they see on television or read about in textbooks.
“We’ve really seen how the healthcare field works from a hands-on perspective rather than leaving it up to our imagination,” said college sophomore Kate Tamburrino. “We’ve gotten to see big cases and small cases, and it’s really solidified what we want to do.”
Through the hands-on internship, the group shadowed doctors and nurses, explored departments across the hospital, learned CPR, observed emergency medical services and experienced firsthand how care teams work together.
The students said the program gave them an inside look at careers in medicine while helping confirm their own career goals.
The internship
Throughout the summer students rotated through multiple hospital units, shadowing physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals while also assisting with non-clinical tasks, including delivering meal carts and helping with fundraising activities.
For Arush Vangala, one of the program’s biggest lessons extended beyond medicine.
“I feel like we really created good relationships with the nurses and doctors we worked with,” he said. “We also got a better understanding of what patients are going through and how compassionate healthcare workers are every day.”
Students said the experience exposed them to specialties they had never considered and gave them opportunities to witness procedures many aspiring healthcare professionals don’t see until much later in their education.
Divine Savior Holy Angels student Helen Tamburrino said one of her most memorable experiences was observing both a cesarean section and the vaginal delivery of twins.
Other highlights included CPR certification, touring an ambulance and spending time with chaplains, nurses and physicians across several departments, she said.
New understanding
Students said the program showed them healthcare is about far more than medical treatment.
“When they’re talking to patients, it doesn’t feel like they’re talking to patients,” Xochitl Ruiz Fenhouse said. “It feels like they’re talking to friends or family.”
She said she was also surprised by how supportive healthcare teams are with one another.
“The doctors and nurses are so compassionate toward each other,” Ruiz Fenhouse said. “It’s like a big family in every department.”
For Vangala, time spent with the hospital’s spiritual care team left a lasting impression.
“I realized how important it is just to listen to people,” he said. “Even if you’re not providing medical care, showing empathy and understanding what someone is going through is something I’ll take into whatever career I choose.”
The internship also challenged students emotionally.
Tamburrino, who hopes to work in women’s health as a physician assistant, said visiting babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit reinforced both the rewards and emotional weight of caring for patients.
“You hear somebody’s story, and it really touches your heart,” she said. “It made me realize I want to be someone who’s there to help people.”
She said the experience also broadened her perspective on healthcare careers.
“Before this, when I thought of healthcare, I mostly thought of doctors and nurses,” she said. “Now I realize there are so many different professions working behind the scenes to make everything happen.”
Students said the internship also helped remove much of the intimidation surrounding shadowing healthcare professionals.
“I thought I’d just be standing in the corner watching,” Tamburrino said. “Instead, everyone wanted to teach us and explain what they were doing.”
Future workforce
Lisa Bosman, nursing director at Ascension St. Joseph Hospital, said the internship was created after healthcare systems saw declining interest in medical careers following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to get people excited about healthcare again,” Bosman said. “People were nervous about hospitals after COVID, and we wanted students to come inside, see what healthcare really looks like and hopefully inspire them to pursue these careers.”
The hospital launched the program as a two-week pilot with eight students last year before expanding it this year to 16 participants.
In addition to exposing students to healthcare careers, Bosman said the internship teaches professionalism, punctuality and workplace communication.
“I hope they leave with not only a better understanding of healthcare, but also what it means to work as part of a professional team,” she said.
Interest in the program has grown rapidly. After expanding recruitment beyond hospital employees’ families and local volunteers, applications climbed to more than 60 for the 16 available spots. Students were selected through a competitive interview process, and Bosman said applicants who weren’t chosen are encouraged to apply again next year.
Applications are expected to open in April or May for next summer’s program.
The biggest takeaway for students wasn’t a specific procedure or department. It was seeing firsthand the compassion behind every role in the hospital.
Vangala said that even if you don’t end up pursuing healthcare, “this program teaches empathy; that’s something you’ll use no matter what career you choose.”
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