Saint Francis and Bartlett High grow internship program
By Michael Waddell, Special to The Daily Memphian
With a health care career already in mind, Bartlett High senior Lydia Means is getting a close look at working in the medical industry this school year.
Whether it’s shadowing MRI tech Tim Drane as he examines images of the human brain or watching hospital staff perform surgery in the operating room, the experience is helping shape Means’ future.
“I’m interested in going to nursing school, and I knew this would give me a feel of each specific area and whether I could see myself working there,” said Means, who determined after seeing blood and passing out in the OR that she might not take that specific career.
At the moment, she plans to become a labor and delivery nurse after finishing high school.
Means and 15 other BHS students are part of a growing clinical internship partnership between the school and Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett.
“One of the neatest things we’re seeing is students are coming in with a broader area they want to draw upon,” said Chris Jenkins, Saint Francis-Bartlett COO. “Beforehand, they would say: ‘I want to be an ER doctor’ or ‘I want to be a surgeon.’ Now they’re saying, ‘I want to look at respiratory therapy’ or ‘I want to work in CT.’”
He says being a good community partner is a top priority for the hospital, and providing students actual exposure to different departments at a hospital is valuable experience in helping them determine a career path.
“If they don’t want to go to a four-year institution, there are other pathways for them,” Jenkins said.
Most of the students already know they want to pursue health care as a career, according to Erin Ozment, BHS Career Technical Education teacher and internship coordinator.
“This gives them an opportunity to really broaden their vision about what health care careers look like and what they might be interested in doing,” she said.
During the second and third quarters of the school year, each student will do clinical rotations at the hospital two or three days each week. They typically shadow hospital staff in 15 different assigned departments like the intensive care unit, sterile processing, radiology, cath lab, wound care, or the operating room.
“I wish they had done something like this when I was in school,” said Regina Lavelle, Saint Francis-Bartlett manager of radiology. “Students are able to go to interventional radiology, MRI, CT, (mammograms), nuke med (nuclear medicine). ...There are so many areas where they can learn about avenues they could go down just in radiology.”
The partnership between the school and the hospital began in 2018 but was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the program relaunched and has grown with the 16 students split into two classes for the first time this year.
“Saint Francis has been a great partner with us, and interest in the program just keeps growing,” said Clark Knight, BCS CTE supervisor.
To apply for the internship, students must complete a 15-page application and essay, submit grades and medical records, complete OSHA safety training and CPR certification, and be able to perform vital signs. At the end of the course, they take a clinical-certified medical assistant exam.
“I’m hoping they leave here with the understanding that there’s more than just nursing and physicians,” said Jacquelyn Whobrey, Saint Francis-Bartlett chief nursing officer. “We talk about the nursing shortage all the time, but actually there’s a shortage in many disciplines within the health care system.”
She cites how students often don’t know about positions like echo techs, stress test personnel, or nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Occupations such as radiology, mammography, CT or ultrasound technician only requires certification and not a four-year degree.
“We have found that we don’t start early enough in the high schools and middle schools to really allow the students to see the different things they can do once they graduate high school,” Whobrey said.
Since nursing assistants don’t need certification in Tennessee, students can go straight from high school to working as a nursing assistant until they complete nursing school.
Knight would like to see similar shadowing opportunities for students in the school’s growing slate of CTE programs, including advanced manufacturing, machining, mechatronics, IT and criminal justice.
“In anticipation of BlueOval City, we even got an electric car this year,” he said. “So our automotive repair kids are already learning to work on them.”