Partners HealthCare and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers collaborate to support young workforce

Vivian Rogers is surrounded by fellow 2015 graduates of the HealthCorps Program. Rogers is veteran who has spent her past year of service working at the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center. (Photo: Photo courtesy Partners Healthcare)

Remember the first day of your first new job? The first day can be exciting, exhilarating, nerve-wracking and sometimes even boring. But a first job can also have a serious impact on the rest of one’s career. The experience can teach valuable lessons and set one on track for ongoing professional success. Partners HealthCare is committed to working with other organizations to develop the future workforce, which is why Partners works with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers (Mass League) on the Community HealthCorps Program.

Community HealthCorps, a part of AmeriCorps, provides a diverse group of recent college graduates and veterans with opportunities as they enter the workforce. Young people participating in the Community HealthCorps Programs are given the chance to work in community health centers throughout the state where they gain valuable, hands-on experience in a health care setting. Many of the young people begin their placements at community health centers with some idea of what they might do at the end of their year of service. But many also walk away with an entirely different idea in mind.

“When I started HealthCorps, I thought I would go onto medical school after the experience,” says Rachel Wasserman, HealthCorps Class of 2015. “Through my experience at DotHouse Health, I have learned about how much the environment can impact our health. I now want to pursue a career as a family nurse practitioner. I aspire not just to deliver health care, but also to empower families to be leaders in their communities.”

Working in a community health center can be demanding and employees are often challenged to perform in a variety of roles. This is precisely what makes the health center experience so beneficial for HealthCorps members. Many members speak of having the opportunity to do things they never imagined doing as part of their placement.

“Southern Jamaica Plain has a lot of programs for patients and they are for all different age groups — from Zumba for seniors to healthy cooking for kids to classes on how to promote healthy race relations within communities. Each day was different,” says Eloho Akpovi, HealthCorps Class of 2015. “I learned so much — specifically that it’s not enough to treat the biology of a patient, you have to treat the whole patient. You really have to listen to people and learn about what is going on in their lives in order to understand their health.”

Community HealthCorps members are exposed to the inner-workings of a community health center while also involving themselves in a variety of projects, including health information technology initiatives, patient health education efforts, and organization-wide measures for improving patient care and satisfaction. The list goes on and on.

“The Community HealthCorps experience surpasses a typical work internship,” said James W. Hunt, Jr., President and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. “In addition to providing meaningful work experiences, the program brings participants in contact with a dynamic field of health care that offers boundless potential in the work to improve the lives and well-being of people in underserved communities.”

This year’s Community HealthCorps placements included: Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, Whittier Street Health Center, Lowell Community Health Center, Manet Community Health Center, Brookside Community Health Center, Martha Eliot Health Center, South End Community Health Center, DotHouse Health, Neponset Health Center, and Codman Square Health Center.

“We appreciate the opportunity to support the Community HealthCorps Program along with the Mass League and are also thankful to the community health centers for hosting and mentoring the HealthCorps members during their year of service,” says Matt Fishman, Vice President for Community Health, Partners HealthCare. “Programs like these are essential for young people as they grow and develop in the early stages of their careers. This is an example of a program that helps ensure that new members of the workforce are getting ready for success in their careers.”