Summer internship offered at HSH

Hot Springs Health is now offering a summer internship for high school students. The internship is a paid temporary part-time position that lasts eight weeks from June 6 through July 29 for 20 hours per week. There are two spots available. 

The internship opportunity is being spearheaded by new Chief Clinical Officer Scott Alwin, who started his position on December 13. He worked prior in healthcare in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

Alwin explained, “Part of our strategic plan on the area of growth is looking for ways of recruitment and retention of staff.” Alwin has previous experience with creating summer internship opportunities in healthcare and said, “It has been a very valuable and fruitful program to be able to not only invite individuals to leaven about healthcare but what ends up happening is relationships start to get built between these young individuals and the professionals at the hospital… for many of them this is their home area, they create a love and a passion for their home hospital because they’ve learned more about it. And, then they go off and develop, make a decision on their career path. It then just provides a planted seed, hey there may be an opportunity to come back home and be able to practice in whatever area of interest you have.”

The interns will be exposed to multiple departments on a rotation schedule. The program is designed to provide a broad and rigorous experience in the delivery of healthcare. 

Hot Springs Health will assist students in learning about the patient experience and guide decision-making for healthcare careers. 

The experience will include a rotation throughout various departments, both clinical and non-clinical. It will have a variety of functions, such as hands-on work, special projects, group activities, and shadowing.

Alwin added, “In healthcare, we have clinical areas that are at bedside in the room taking care of a patient, diagnostic imaging, lab, they’re actually taking care of the patient themselves. But, then there are many other areas that also support the experience of the patient that are not at bedside, such as financing, accounting, marketing... engineering, construction, electricians, plumbers. The interns will have time to work in all areas of the hospital, both clinical and non-clinical. Dietary, food service, maintenance, and human resources.” 

The program pairs the interns with mentors to guide their summer training. At the end of the term, the interns will have a capstone project where they will give a presentation of the intern’s experience. The presentation will also include a description of how the internship shaped or crafted future direction for post-high school if any. 

High school students in their sophomore through the senior year (including the first summer after graduation) can apply between April 1-15 in an online application. 

Alwin explained that they don’t focus on college students because they have already selected what they want to do. This summer program’s purpose is to help young students generate an interest and help them fine-tune where they want to go.

The application should also include a cover letter, resume, and essay. The essay should state: What area of healthcare is of interest to you and why? Describe the benefit this internship will provide you both personally and professionally. A current high school GPA is also required, along with two reference letters that evaluate work ethic, maturity, and responsibility.

After the application and materials are submitted, there will be an interview for selected contenders. 

Hot Springs Health said the benefits are to provide an amazing experience in a wide variety of health-related departments, experience working in a professional setting. The experience will enhance life skills in applying, interviewing, and performing professional jobs. It will also provide an additional positive experience to add to resumes, applications, scholarships, and graduate programs. 

Not only that there will be lifelong mentors and leaders to guide and assist them. The mentors will occasionally reach out and check in on the students. The mentors might serve as a reference or a resume or essay writing guide for applications the students might be pursuing. 

For students who are interested in applying for the summer internship program, they can apply at http://www.hotspringshealth.com under employment opportunities. The position will be posted soon. 

Alwin also intends on meeting students at the high school in person for a presentation. Additionally, this opportunity isn’t limited to Thermopolis but to the greater region as well.