Teen Internship
The Teen Healthcare Pathways Internship Program is a great program that mentors teens by teaching them basic medical skills training, leadership development, and even career counseling. Many of these students have working parents that can’t afford to pay for their children’s sports activities, which cost $1,000 per activity. “Our students don’t have the confidence or a lot of opportunities to become leaders and believe that they can’t take honors or advanced placement classes, or even go to college because their families tell them that they can’t afford it,” explains Safaeinili.
The students help with all aspects of the Corazones Sanos Program. They are given the opportunity to become leaders and to learn the basics of working at a health clinic. They take patient’s temperatures and even present their cases to the doctor and the medical team, but most importantly they do outreach within their own communities. “The students bring people from the community who are at risk for heart disease or diabetes and when the patients come to the clinic, they see the students, so they feel safe to come,” she says.
Many times immigrants are hesitant to visit the doctor because they feel they won’t be able to afford it or understand what the doctor is saying since they don’t speak English. These students speak their language and so does the health team at the clinic.
