Other

Grantee Name

Health Career Connection, Inc.

Funding Area

Other

Publication Date

April 2017

Grant Amount

$32,500

Grant Date:

June 2016 – November 2016

In New York City, challenging and prestigious health care internships are often unpaid—hindering students who cannot afford to take unpaid opportunities from shaping their future educational and career trajectories and building meaningful professional networks.

Health Career Connection (HCC) is a national nonprofit organization that provides undergraduate students from under-represented or disadvantaged backgrounds with paid internship placements in health care and public health organizations. The majority of students recruited by HCC are first-generation college students who come from low-income families and communities with limited resources to help them thrive in the workforce. Ultimately, HCC seeks to improve the health of populations by motivating and developing value-driven, capable, and diverse health care and public health leaders and professionals.

In 2014, NYHealth awarded HCC a grant to support five 10-week summer internship placements, including at the Foundation. The experience was exceptional for both the students and hosting organizations, which led NYHealth to award HCC subsequent grants in 2015 and 2016 to continue support for this initiative. Under this 2016 grant, HCC matched five students to organizations suited to their career interests: one internship at NYHealth and four internships at Healthy Neighborhoods Fund grantee organizations.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

  • Placed students in internships at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene East Harlem District Public Health Office, the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, and NYHealth;
  • Connected students to seminars, site visits, and mentors to help them explore career possibilities and gain a perspective on how health organizations operate; and
  • Prepared students to choose a well-suited health career path and helped them develop important relationships for their professional growth.

With continued support from NYHealth, HCC has consistently matched host organizations with stellar interns. Of the 2016 cohort, a student who was hosted at the East Harlem District Public Health Office was offered a full-time internship after the grant period ended. Another intern was subsequently hired as a case manager at a different HCC site as a result of networking through the HHC program.

Co-Funding and Additional Funds Leveraged: N/A