The Healthcare Exploration Program at St. Vincent’s Regional Medical Center exposes high school students to the field of medicine. According to St. Vincent’s, the program’s main purpose is to attract highly motivated high school students who are interested in healthcare.

Recruiting for the Summer 2018 program has begun. Interested sophomores and juniors are invited to learn more at College Plaza (in the library) on Wed., Nov. 1, at 11 a.m.

There is a critical shortage of healthcare workers in rural states like New Mexico. Fewer people are pursuing healthcare as a career because of the long hours and irregular schedules, and the ones who do often leave to practice someplace else.

The HEP offers students opportunities to study, observe, and work side by side with doctors, nurses, technicians, administrators, and other healthcare workers. They spend time in more than 30 hospital departments, including clinical and nonclinical environments. Students observe the emergency department, witness surgery in an operating room, and interact in the hospital pharmacy.

Participants receive certification in CPR training and engage themselves in unique projects that are based on their specific areas of interest.

According to the “Santa Fe New Mexican,” a report by the research and consulting firm Millennial Branding shows that 90 percent of 362 companies surveyed stated that high school internship programs help students get into more highly competitive colleges. The report points to the importance of networking within a field, with 70 percent saying that high school interns are more likely to be hired as interns again in their college years, which can lead to a post-college job opportunity. Because jobs are getting more competitive, an internship can make a huge difference in getting a job.

Madeline Grantham-Philips, a senior at Santa Fe High who participated in HEP Level Two this past summer, said, “It was really cool to be able to shadow different people in the field who work in the hospital and other healthcare settings. I really enjoyed getting to wear my scrubs and getting a taste of what different jobs in healthcare are like.

“I would definitely recommend it,” Madeline said. “I believe shadowing is one of the best ways to kind of scope out what it’s really like for a certain job and what type of personality it takes to be in different fields of medicine.” She also said she got paid about $900 and that it was “awesome.”

For more information, the application may be found at this link: http://www.stvin.org/workfiles/pdf/HEP_Application_Level_One_2017_Dec16_FILLABLE.pdf