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Step 1
Offer health-related volunteer opportunities for youth. This is hands-down the best way to engage youth in different jobs in health care. Allowing them to volunteer in a hospital or doctor's office not only gives them real-world experience but also serves as a way for youth to give back to their community. Moreover, volunteering provides an opportunity for young people to see the range of jobs available in health care, from nursing to office management to X-ray technicians to marketing to food service and more.
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Step 2
Initiate a health care mentoring program. Encourage area youth to partner with medical health professionals from your facility for academic and career mentoring. Mentors are a great way to reach those youth who might not otherwise realize their ability to move into a field like health care. Moreover, a mentoring program will help raise the morale of your staff through community service, making this option a win-win situation for your facility. Mentoring demonstrates how well-rounded this field is and the opportunities that abound within it.
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Step 3
Hold a high school hospital career day. Events are always a great way to reach a large group of people at one time. Holding a career day for high school students will not only allow your hospital access to some of the best and brightest students in your region, but it will also establish a relationship with area schools that can funnel potential job candidates your way. Make it fun, with tables for each department, medical staff on-site to talk about why they love what they do, and lots of food and marketing freebies.
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Step 4
Provide a shadowing program for your health care facility. Different from a more in-depth mentoring program, a shadowing program can allow area youth to shadow a staff member for a day. From attending staff meetings to working closely with doctors visiting patients to helping generate a marketing campaign for a clinic or hospital, there are many shadowing opportunities in the health care profession.
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Step 5
Sponsor youth-oriented activities in your community. In addition to on-site opportunities, health care facilities can get involved in the local youth community. Sponsor sports activities. Donate money and resources to local schools. The more you can get your name out there, associated with the betterment of local youth, the more likely it is that young people in your area will become familiar with your facility and consider you for future opportunities.
