GO-NORTH Programs Give Youth a Summer of Healthcare Career Exploration
UNH's efforts to strengthen the region's healthcare workforce were in full force this summer, with youth career exploration programs across the state giving students hands-on introductions to healthcare careers.
Thanks to funding from the , 147 students participated, at no cost, in summer healthcare career exploration programs hosted by organizations across the state. GO-NORTH was established by executive order under Governor Kelly Ayotte and is funded through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program.
GO-NORTH advances five strategic initiatives to improve the health and long-term sustainability of rural New Hampshire, including a Workforce Initiative focused on building and retaining a skilled rural healthcare workforce through education, training, and career pathways. This summer, GO-NORTH funding supported youth engagement programs to introduce students to healthcare and allied health professions while creating pathways that could help strengthen New Hampshire's future healthcare workforce.
Among some of the summer's programs were:
Students at the Southern New Hampshire Area Health Education Center Camp in Manchester learned about careers firefighting.
Southern New Hampshire Area Health Education Center (SNHAHEC) Health Career Exploration Camps: Held throughout July, the camps included a Seacoast program at UNH July 13-17, a Nashua camp July 20-24, and a Manchester camp July 27-31 in partnership with UNH Manchester.
The camps gave middle and high school students a hands-on look at a wide range of healthcare careers. Through simulations and interactions with healthcare professionals, students explored careers in nursing, emergency medicine, public health, physical therapy, behavioral health, dentistry, and emergency preparedness. All three camps also included CPR certification.
Riverside Rest Home Future Healthcare Professionals Summer Exploration Program: This program gave high school students an 80-hour summer experience centered on career exploration within a long-term care facility. Participants rotated through areas including nursing, rehabilitation, dietary services, and activities while taking part in structured shadowing and reflection.
St. Joseph Hospital Health Careers Academy: This five-day, hospital-based summer program gave students a chance to explore multiple healthcare careers. Students shadowed healthcare professionals, took part in simulations and toured different departments, learning about both clinical and non-clinical roles, including emergency medical services and trauma care. The program also introduced students to some of the challenges of delivering healthcare in rural communities and showed them potential next steps, including LNA training, scholarships and nursing education programs.
Southern New Hampshire Health's Beyond the Stethoscope: This six-week, full-day summer program gave high school seniors an opportunity to explore the many roles that make a healthcare system run. Through simulations, department rotations, career panels and individualized coaching, students learned about clinical, technical, administrative and allied health careers while exploring potential paths to college, training and employment.
Students practice CPR at the St. Joseph Hospital Health Careers Academy.
Other RHT-supported programs included the Rockingham County Healthcare Academy in Brentwood; MWV School to Career Health Camp at Memorial Hospital in North Conway; and Colby-Sawyer College's Fueling Interest in Health & Allied Health Careers program in New London.
While the programs varied in length and focus, they shared a goal of building students' interest in healthcare by giving them immersive, hands-on experiences and opportunities to see where that interest could take them.
"We were excited for the opportunity to support nine unique youth health care career exploration programs hosted by seven different organizations across New Hampshire," says Ken La Valley, executive director for Rural Health Education." Providing hands-on experiences that allow New Hampshire youth to explore health care careers in a fun and engaging way aligns directly with our goal of creating pathways to strengthen the state's health care workforce."
These projects are supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $204,016,550.20 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.