Campers Focus on Healthcare Careers

July 21, 2006

A week of fun and learning could lead to a career choice for one or all of 10 students from Sleepy Hollow and Yorktown high schools who participated in the fourth annual Healthcare Summer Camp at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center. The purpose of the "camp" is to give high school students an up-close examination of healthcare in action.

"In an effort to address the shortage of healthcare professionals, we are taking a page from the National Basketball Association playbook," said Keith Safian, the hospital's president and CEO. "We hope that this exposure will whet their appetites."

The camp is part of the Hospital's Health Care Career Pathway program, which promotes nursing and other healthcare professions through education, hands-on field experience, and formal training," said Lucy Engelhardt, VP of Nursing, who developed the program. "The program also provides high school seniors mentoring assistance with collegiate applications and preparatory courses for entrance exams. It's funded by the hospital, corporations, individuals and community organizations."

The "Camp" serves as a gateway for a variety of opportunities, which include a formal internship and enrollment in the Patient Care Assistance (PCA) training program. Upon graduating from this PCA program, participants are eligible for employment at Phelps as Nursing Assistant Technicians; and once an employee, he or she is eligible for tuition reimbursement benefits. Additional financial support is provided with scholarships of $5,000 per year, awarded in return for a commitment to one year's employment as a registered nurse.

Health Care Career Pathway has had impressive results: about half of the 27 students who participated in the summer camp volunteered at the hospital afterwards; 10 students have completed the formal internship program; all but one of the 17 participates who completed the PCA training secured employment; seven students are currently enrolled in the tuition reimbursement program; and six have scholarships. The students who are working at Phelps while attending college report having an advantage over their peer group, because they can relate what they are learning in school to what is happening with their patients at the hospital. The program fulfilled the hospital's objective of filling unlicensed positions with mature, dedicated employees. Hospital employee morale has improved and support for the program is hospital-wide.

Phelps Memorial Hospital is a 235-bed community hospital with 450 physicians, representing 34 different medical specialties. Phelps is the Westchester Satellite for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a clinical affiliate of Mount Sinai Hospital, and the newest member of the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System.

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