On a mission to enlighten school students about the fantastic opportunities available within the healthcare profession, Health City Cayman Islands is busy preparing for its summer intake of interns who will be learning all about the various aspects of life at the hospital.

Through the hospital’s student programme, organisers have already managed to further the desire of a number of students to undertake a profession in the medical field and help them appreciate the opportunities that exist for them.

Mr. Richard Parchment, Programme Manager and Business Development and Government Liaison at Health City said he was pleased with how the first two terms of the programme had developed so far.

“Our initial assessment of the programme internally and externally with our different stakeholders has produced outstanding results,” he said. “To-date, 175 students have participated in the programme. In addition we have our summer intern programme which focusses primarily on our college medical students when they are home for their summer. This year we have agreed to host 24 students, between June and August.”

The student programme is being led by the hospital’s team of dedicated members who have a strong interest in seeing Cayman’s youth excel and choose exciting careers for their future. Along with Mr. Parchment, programme mentors include Mr. Charles D. Bush, Manager – Mission Integration & Spiritual Care at Health City and Pastor Sethres Dixon. They are with the students daily and provide structure, organisation and guidance. The programme is a commitment by Dr. Shetty and Mr. Gene Thompson, Project Director to find and expose as many Caymanians to the possibility of healthcare as a career. Mr. Parchment said news of the programme was reaching a broad audience within the Cayman school system.

“We have received strong interest from most schools. CIFEC, Clifton Hunter High School, John Gray High School, St. Ignatius High School, Grace Christian Academy, Cayman International School, Triple C High School, Cayman Prep & High School, Hope Academy and Wesleyan Christian Academy are all either in the pipeline or are already participating in the programme,” he said.

Health City hopes to implement enhancements to further the programme in the future.

“With the support of the Minster and Councillor in the Ministry of Education, we have committed to almost double the numbers for next school year to 300 students and we are planning to work with the principals and schools to find a way to spread out their student numbers, and we are working towards having direct contact with Grade 6 primary school children, during the school year,” Mr. Parchment said. “In addition, we will be considering ways of making the internship apply to students’ science grades in some way, for example via Lab co-ops, Skype calls, field trips and in class discussions with a clinician.”

Mr. Parchment said they were modifying the programme so the students’ time at the hospital was maximised and the clinicians were better able to spend more direct time with students.

“We will structure the programme from 9am-2pm, this includes one hour of lecturing and two hours of hospital department time,” he said. “There are specific assignments that each student has to complete in order to receive their certificate of participation.”

Mr. Thompson comments:

“It is and has been the goal of Health City to hire and train as many Caymanians as possible and to this end we are continuing to be relentless in our commitment to see as many young Caymanians choose healthcare as a career option and we expect many will choose to work at Health City in the coming years”.

Students will be assigned to a variety of departments within Health City, including Cardiology, Orthopedics, ICU/Anaesthesiology, Radiology, Oncology, Physiotherapy, Laboratory, Nursing, Administration, Marketing and Facilities Management.