Model Neighborhood Program

Model Neigborhood Program student preparing blood kits for the laboratory

Health Career Training Internships

During the 2004-2005 school year, over 100 eighth-grade students from Calvin Simmons, Frick, and Elmhurst Middle Schools competed for 84 openings in the Model Neighborhood Health Career Training Internship. Internships began on September 27, 2004 and run until June 17, 2005.

Students submit an essay to express their dreams of being in a health career. One successful candidate wrote "I figure I can do some good in the world [rather] than being a football player. I love my community very much and I don't want to sit around and do nothing to help it. I think I would do some good [as] a doctor or a nurse.... What motivates me is my hometown Oakland, because I see people getting sicker or dying."

Selected participants come three days per week after school for 12-weeks to learn about a variety of health careers through hands-on learning in Highland Hospital and Eastmont Wellness Center Departments. Each week, Internship graduates and current participants gather to focus on specific health careers and skill building through activities and visits by guest speakers. Students receive a stipend for their work and a certificate of success during a culminating graduation celebration upon completion of the Internship.

The Internship has been in place at ACMC since 1995 and has seen more than 500 students successfully complete rotations through departments. Several departments support the program by including interns in their daily work. Interns are eager to learn about the heart and assist with EKG's in Cardiology. They enjoy seeing bones while taking x-rays in Radiology and appreciate learning about cancer treatments and patients in Oncology. Several Internship graduates have returned to the Model Neighborhood Program to volunteer and mentor current participants.

Model Neighborhood Program: (510) 437-8549

The Alameda County Health Care Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization serving the medically underserved, indigent, and all Alameda County residents, with special emphasis on Alameda County Medical Center (ACMC) patients. ACMC is comprised of Highland General Hospital; Fairmont Hospital, John George Psychiatric Pavilion, and the five County Ambulatory Care Clinics.

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