Newsroom

ST. JOSEPH, Mich., Sept. 13, 2023 - Recently, 20 local high school students in Southwest Michigan graduated from the Corewell Health™ 2023 GROWTH internship program. The GROWTH internship provides youth residing in Benton Harbor and Niles with the opportunity to explore and experience health care careers in their hometown. Over seven weeks, students from seven local high schools received a combination of guided real-world experience and training specific to the department they were assigned.  

 

The program’s goal is to build a career pipeline between Corewell Health and the Berrien County community, while also exposing students to the clinical, non-clinical professional and non-clinical service roles in the health care workforce.  

 

“Students build relationships and make connections to resources that will help them in their post-secondary path,” said Ashlee Offord, community programs supervisor, Population Health at Corewell Health in Southwest Michigan. “We have an incredible opportunity to help our area youth in exploring and achieving their future, which will ultimately make our community stronger and provide exemplary patient care for our friends and neighbors.” 

 

Berrien Springs High School student Yeonwoo Seo interned at the Corewell Health Lakeland Hospitals Wound Care Clinic in Niles. Interested in becoming a physician, he took full advantage of his time as a high school intern to learn if working in health care was the right career path for him.  

 

“I gained hands-on experience with direct patient care at the wound clinic, learning about different healing procedures and the anatomy and physiology behind wound healing,” said Yeonwoo Seo, 2023 GROWTH intern. “The team of nurses, nurse practitioners and physicians were very welcoming and willing to teach me. This experience has assured me that I want to become a physician.” 

 

Participating students must be at least 16 years old and reside in Benton Harbor or Niles, attend a Benton Harbor or Niles area high school, or attend a school of choice while living in Benton Harbor or Niles. The application period for the 2024 GROWTH internship program will start in March 2024. Interested candidates can find more information at spectrumhealthlakeland.org/2023-growth.