When Alexis Freedman applied for the Holy Name Medical Center Healthcare Careers Discovery Program, she knew she'd get exposure to the goings-on at the 361-bed hospital in northern New Jersey. But when she actually took part in the weeklong session this summer, she was shocked at how much she, as a high school student, got to do.
"It was very hands-on, and I was so excited when I saw how raw the experience would be. It was beyond exciting," says Freedman, who is a high school student at Montville Township High School in Montville, New Jersey.
In the simulation lab, Freedman gave injections and delivered the babies of lifelike manikins. She took the vitals of other high school students participating in the session. And she did mock job interviews with staff members of Holy Name Medical Center, which is in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Abigail Goldman, who participated in the more advanced session of the Healthcare Careers Discovery Program shortly after Freedman's, was similarly amazed by the level of access. She rotated through multiple units of the hospital, shadowing clinicians. She even observed a gallbladder removal. "I saw the teamwork and conversation between the nurses and doctors and others," she says. Goldman is entering her junior year at Cresskill High School in Cresskill, New Jersey.
Igniting the career passions of students like Freedman and Goldman is exactly what Holy Name leadership had in mind in 2015 when it began the Russell Berrie Institute for Simulation Learning's Healthcare Careers Discovery Program. The summer program gives high school students who are considering a medical career a wide range of experiences at the hospital, including shadowing clinicians, rotating through medical units, attending a panel discussion with clinicians, practicing interview and job-seeking skills, and learning clinical procedures in the simulation lab.
Holy Name is one of many Catholic hospitals across the nation with similar programs that offer career-building opportunities to students. (See more in the list below.)
Matthew Kostelnik, the lead simulation specialist at Holy Name Medical Center, says with its program, the hospital is "taking a stance, preparing for the future workforce shortages that are coming with nurses and physicians" and other clinicians.
"The students leave here empowered," he says.
Experiential learning
Kostelnik says the program began when Holy Name leaders identified a gap in the number of candidates available to fill clinical positions at the hospital.
While the program has evolved over the years, the current iteration features the initial program for younger students and the advanced program for older students who have attended the basic program. Both the basic and advanced program include a combination of classroom and simulation learning experiences and exposure to the hospital environment. Some of what the students learn is basic life support, labor and delivery practices, airway intubation and suturing. They can earn first aid certification.
The students in the advanced session spend more time on the units shadowing clinicians and, as circumstances allow, can observe clinical care delivery, such as the gallbladder removal that Goldman watched.
Holy Name accepts applications for the program between January and March before the sessions that run in mid-summer. Hundreds apply. This year, 24 students were chosen for each of the two sessions. The program cost $875 to attend. Holy Name offers scholarships for students who cannot afford the cost. The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority offers a scholarship for Black young women attending the program.
'Bright and eager'
According to a 2024 report from the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, which is affiliated with the Health Resources and Services Administration, "as of June 14, 2024, approximately 75 million people live in a primary care Health Professional Shortage Area." The report also said that "across all physician specialties in the United States, there is a projected shortage of 187,130 full-time equivalent physicians in 2037." According to a Health Workforce Analysis published by the center in 2022, there was a projected shortage of 63,720 full-time nurses in 2030. That report said New Jersey was among 10 states with the largest projected shortages.
Kostelnik says it has been heartening to see hundreds of high school students moving through the program, "bright and eager," and enthusiastic about careers in medicine — although it's also a good way for students to discover early whether it is perhaps not the career for them after all.
Kostelnik says graduates of the program have returned years later to work at Holy Name.
Freedman is considering a career in education or health care, and she says her experience this summer has got her thinking of potentially combining her passions, perhaps as a health care educator. She says she will probably apply to be in the advance program next summer.
Goldman, whose mother is a physician in the oncology and hematology unit at Holy Name, says she has "always been drawn to health care because I want a career where I can make a difference and help people."
Goldman is considering nursing, and her experience this summer observing a surgery has her interested in being an operating room nurse.
She is thinking about volunteering at the hospital to gain even more exposure.
Kostelnik says the program builds confidence in the students. "They walk away being comfortable with whatever situation we put them in," he says.
