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As a "teaching hospital," Northwestern Memorial's commitment to education extends beyond the physicians who train here and reaches into the community through easy access to reliable health information, hands-on learning experiences and job training opportunities.
Our youth and education programs introduce career opportunities to future healthcare workers by providing students with a "front-row" view of those careers. Along with our community partnerships and allied health schools, these programs are helping to train tomorrow's health care workers.
Educating the next generation of healthcare workers
Northwestern Memorial Hospital is committed to educating and mentoring local youth who are considering or pursuing careers in the healthcare industry, and to helping young people become aware of areas within healthcare that are experiencing a shortage of workers. Internships, job training and creative recruitment initiatives are part of the hospital's ongoing strategy to attract, develop and train the best employees and future workers.
Medical Explorers
Northwestern Memorial's award-winning Medical Explorers Post is made up of high school and college students from the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburban areas who are interested in pursuing healthcare careers as physicians, nurses, pharmacists and technologists, as well as business administration, financial management, law and engineering as those fields relate to healthcare. The Medical Explorers program emphasizes career exposure, life skills, service learning, character development and leadership - through internships, workshops and one-on-one meetings with healthcare professionals from physicians to hospital leadership.
INROADS
The mission of INROADS, a national, non-profit organization founded in Chicago in 1970, is to "develop and place talented minority youth in business and industry and prepare them for corporate and community leadership." As an INROADS sponsor, Northwestern Memorial provides meaningful experiences through internships, year-round academic instruction and summer workshops to prepare high school and college students for careers in healthcare.
Chicago Public Schools
Northwestern Memorial partners with the Chicago Public School system's Medical and Health Career Academy, a very rigorous academic track that prepares students at three Chicago high schools for careers in the healthcare industry. As a charter member, the hospital serves an advisory role and provides tours, workshops and summer internships.
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Corporate Internship Program
Created as a corporate initiative by Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, the program gives its students an opportunity to work one day a week in a clerical role to gain valuable work experience in a corporate setting. At Northwestern Memorial Hospital, twelve students are gaining experience in information services and human resources.
Northwestern Memorial Allied Health Schools
Northwestern Memorial has responded to the healthcare workforce shortage by creating our own training schools for clinical areas where workers are in demand. The Northwestern Memorial Allied Health Schools offer 12- to 18-month post-baccalaureate certificate programs in nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy and medical sonography. Nearly 100 percent of the graduates to date have found work within a month of completing the program.
Over the next several years, plans include:
Adding an X-ray technician certificate program to the Allied Health Schools offerings, providing training opportunities for students in Robert Morris College's surgical technician program, and strengthening relationships with local nursing schools to train nurses at the hospital.
