Career Focus Student Volunteers

Career Focus Student Volunteers are involved in a Career Focus class at a participating high school during the school year.  The purpose of the class is to expose students to different career paths by allowing them to volunteer at a participating facility of their choice throughout the Spokane area.  A Career Focus school-based program coordinator is assigned to monitor the students during their volunteer time.

The Career Focus student volunteer program at Deaconess Medical Center continues throughout the school year.  Student volunteers are placed in a department based on their interests and their interview with Volunteer Services.  Students are required to volunteer four days a week during the Career Focus class time.  Please see “Application/Interview” and “Requirements” sections below for further information on this program at Deaconess Medical Center.

Career Focus - S.D.I. (Special Design Instruction) Student Volunteers

Lewis & Clark Career Focus – SDI is a non-paid, community based learning and training opportunity for juniors and seniors.  The goal of Career Focus -SDI is to assist youth in developing self-reliance skills that will lead to the attainment of individual educational goals, including long-term employment and the recognition of the need for continuing education.  Career Focus combines what is learned in the classroom with real-world experiences.  The community becomes an extension of the classroom.

How do students learn?  Students apply classroom learning in a business setting.  They interact with the school teacher/coordinator business supervisor, employees and peers.  Learning is individualized and designed by the student, business supervisor and teacher/coordinator.

Lewis & Clark Career Focus and Deaconess Medical Center have enjoyed a valuable and rewarding relationship for the benefit of the students for nearly 15 years.    Lewis & Clark Special Education and Resource students are assigned volunteer positions at Deaconess Medical Center, which enable them to explore career opportunities.  These volunteers work at a great variety of departments within the hospital including Central Services, Warehouse, Maintenance, Print Shop, Kitchen, and Education Center.  The students meet approximately two hours per day, 4-5 days per week.  They gain specific employment skills through applied learning in supervised learning/mentor environment. 

Please see “Application/Interview” and “Requirements” sections below for further information on this program at Deaconess Medical Center.

P.I.C.I (Practicum In Community Involvement) Student Volunteers

P.I.C.I. stands for Practicum In Community Involvement. It is an award-winning class offered to all Lewis and Clark High School seniors who receive 5 hours of college credit upon completion of the course. The P.I.C.I. student interns are placed at various community facilities based on their career interests. Throughout their internship, they volunteer to produce evidence of continuing research on their chosen topic, including consulting with experts in the field and presenting their findings through peer teaching. At the end of the school year, the students produce a final research paper and present their findings in a seminar in April and a final project in May. These are high-caliber students driven to achieve a higher level of education while at the same time receiving real-life experience in the field they are interested in.

The purpose of the P.I.C.I. student volunteer program at Deaconess is to expose high school age students through service-learning to the clinical settings of the health care industry and to encourage interest in the health sciences. Students are pre-screened by Deaconess Volunteer Services with criteria mirroring our Junior Volunteer program. Please see “Application/Interview” and “Requirements” sections below for further information on this program at Deaconess Medical Center.  For more information in P.I.C.I., go to http://www.newpriorities.org/community.html#Internship

Application/Interview

Potential student volunteers are considered based on their application, references, screenings, and a formal interview with Volunteer Services.  Applications must include:

• 2 references (references from family members not accepted)
• Documentation of immunity to MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella/Rubeola)
• Documentation of immunity to Chicken Pox (Varicella)

If documentation of the above immunization requirements are unavailable, a blood draw verifying immunity will be necessary (see “Requirements” below). 

Requirements

Student volunteers must be currently enrolled in a qualifying student volunteer class at the school they are attending.  After the initial interview with Volunteer Services, final acceptance into the student volunteer program will be based on a national criminal background check performed by Volunteer Services at no cost to the applicant.  In addition, all applicants accepted into the program undergo a mandatory health screening, done on-site at no cost to the volunteer. The health screening includes:

• Verification of MMR immunity (history of disease or vaccination record)
• Verification of Chicken Pox immunity (history of disease or vaccination record)
• Tuberculosis (TB) testing
• Drug Screening
• Vision/Hearing Screening

*If under 18, a parent or guardian MUST be present at the health screening for consent purposes.