need help mentorinb a HS student
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Anonymous
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talk with her about the next step, whatever that is for her: PSAT for national merit competitions? Applying to a summer program or getting a summer job? College apps? Help her with the next step. Listen to her--find out what she likes, about her family, what she does for fun. She'll like you more, you'll enjoy it more, and if she asks you for a reference for college or a job you'll have more to say.
Don't worry so much about her becoming a doctor--that is nice, but may or may not happen. Show her all the different people who work in the clinic: insurance biller/enrollment coordinator, social worker, pharmacist, grant writer, receptionist, lab tech, nurse practitioner, etc. Sometimes kids don't know all the different jobs that are out there. Seeing a variety of options will help her figure out what's best for her. Show her ALL the different |
Anonymous
22:46 here. OP what else do you know about her, other than that she applied and it was competitive? There are competitions and then there are competitions. Did any of your experience with the last intern shed light on how you could approach this one? I think you're not getting a lot of advice because PPs don't have enough information to work with yet. |
Anonymous
Don't know where you are but Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington has a week-long summer camp where the kids get to see different parts of the hospital. http://www.virginiahospitalcenter.com/programs/community/offerings/camp.aspx And Inova Fairfax has a teen volunteer program - http://www.inova.org/get-involved/volunteer/inova-fairfax-hospital/teen-volunteer-opportunities/index.jsp |
Anonymous
+1. Many kids may not have the grades, interest, aptitude or money as they grow older, but they still have a general interest in healthcare and may be able to find a health-care related job that is a better fit. My uncle is not a people person at all. (love him though) He has a terrible bedside manner and would have made a horrible doctor in that sense. He is, however, a mad scientist-type inventor, so a doctor after all, but just not one that actually sees people. |
Anonymous
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OP- have her learn about the entire revenue cycle of your clinic. How the front desk gets the insurance cards and collects co-pays and how that makes it easier on the back end billing staff. Talk to the coders and billers. Who does your collection calls? What is bad debt?
It may be a long shot for her to go to medical school but a bachelor's in finance can go a long way. Seriously- tap into a couple of your best employees who possibly/probably came from a similar background. |
Anonymous
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I don't know what would work today, but I can tell you what helped me when I was in high school.
-Someone asking what my goals were, what was challenging me in obtaining those goals and then helping me see steps and options. -Connecting how abstract classes mattered in getting to the career option that I am doing now. -introducing me to other people that were important in my field -explaining to me what good days and not so good days entailed on that job. -recommending books that they personally used to get to that point -addressing real issues like my so so writing skills and somewhat sloppy dress style. |
Anonymous
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Yes, that student might want to know, concretely:
1. How to get into a college that will prepare you for careers in medicine--what classes to take in HS so you're prepared for pre-requisites in college? 2. Why should you care about pre-reqs anyway? (answer: you need them to take the med school entrance exam and to get into college. If you want to be a nurse, you STILL have to take all this stuff! DO IT NOW. And by the way, nursing's competitive, too, but don't let that scare you! You can do it! Find helpers and sucker onto them.) 3. Do I even have what it takes? (Show her she can read an X-ray, or whatever it is. Have her shadow you, and "talk out loud" as you go, so she can see what a doctor thinks about as she goes through her day. Hey, even if you're thinking about putting dinner on the table for your kids!  )
4. Show her she has important skills (Knowing how to communicate with people of all walks of life is important--she can help make ppl who find doctors intimidating feel less intimidated) 5. Introduce her as a pre-doctor in pre-training. What a morale booster. 
6. Ask her what she wants to do--interview other docs, nurses, techs? Read something about med-school prep? Identify academic week spots and find a tutor? Etc. |
Anonymous
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OP here - thank you very much for all the great ideas. I'm really excited! I think the suggestion to shadow others is a great one - will hook her up with some nurses and maybe even have her speak to registration.
Thanks, again, for taking the time to reply. |
Anonymous
Pp here... She did the VHC camp in 5th grade and hasn't been able to get a slot since, and Inova won't accept volunteers before 16. Thanks for the help though. I'll just keep searching. |
Anonymous
op here: children's hospital has a "high school volunteers" program every summer - you have to apply and its competitive, but excellent. |
Anonymous
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OP again: i finally sat down to chat with my mentee - it took a few weeks to find a time where i was totally free and she was in the hospital - and it was great. she's quite driven, but comes from a very low income background. she is going to be attending community college next year - we talked about med school pre-reqs, how to keep your grades up, what matters in college, etc... we also talked about what she wanted to get out of this experience - and surprise! - it wasn't what i thought. i have started reaching out to colleagues to make sure she gets some time in the setting she wants to see. pretty cool. thank you so much for this advice.
as i said, i am so used to mentoring medical students and residents that i have entirely forgotten what a high school mind is like. |
Anonymous
| Glad to hear it, OP. I think it was spot on to get her perspective. |