Baltimore City Youth Explore Health Care Careers Through Summer Jobs at the University of Maryland Medical Center

70 Young People Gain Work Readiness Skills Through YouthWorks

BALTIMORE, Md. – This summer, University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is providing 70 young people ages 14 to 21 with work readiness skills training through targeted job-matching to their career interests. Through the YouthWorks program at UMMC's University and Midtown campuses, the interns undergo a summer experience that creates a lasting effect, including the opportunity for development of a detailed career path to college or the workplace.

The initiative is a collaboration between YouthWorks – a summer jobs program sponsored by the Baltimore Mayor's Office of Employment Development – and the UMMC Office of Community and Workforce Engagement, which coordinates several youth and adult job-training programs with government and private-sector organizations.

"We are proud to partner with the Mayor's Office of Employment Development to offer the young people of this great city the opportunity to experience how rewarding a career in health care can be," said UMMC President and CEO Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA. "We hope that through this experience they may realize not only the opportunities to work in a career field that can impact lives, but also their own potential to achieve career goals."

YouthWorks is part of UMMC's expansive community engagement initiatives, which include programs to reduce violence in school-aged children, increase student attendance, and support school readiness initiatives by funding and working with area schools. UMMC's Future Workforce Program introduces youth to occupations in health care through internships, mentorships, seminars and hospital tours that allow hands-on exploration of the health field.

Kaitlyn Gregg is a pre-medicine student at Rutgers University. "I've wanted to be a doctor since I was six years old," says Kaitlyn. "The YouthWorks program is a great way for me to meet surgeons and spend time in the OR shadowing them."

The five-week program runs from June 26 through July 28, 2017. After orientation, each intern is assigned to an area on one of UMMC's two hospital campuses: 60 are assigned to UMMC University Campus and 10 to UMMC Midtown Campus.

Each participant works five hours each day in one of more than 30 clinical and support areas including the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, emergency department, biomedical engineering, cardiology, food services, the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, medical records, pathology, pediatrics, security and respiratory care. They also have two classroom hours on Fridays devoted to the development of essential skills, technical skills and interpersonal skills that they can use in school, jobs and life. Students earn minimum wage ($9.25 per hour) for their work.

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About YouthWorks

YouthWorks is Baltimore City's summer jobs program for residents between the ages of 14 and 21. Each year through YouthWorks, the Mayor's Office of Employment Development (MOED) connects thousands of teens and young adults to meaningful summer work experiences throughout the city. Participants work in a wide variety of industries, including health care and social assistance, hospitality/tourism, finance, construction, the arts and environmental/green jobs. For more information, visit https://youthworks.oedworks.com/.

About the University of Maryland Medical Center

The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) comprises two hospitals in Baltimore: an 800-bed teaching hospital – the flagship institution of the 12-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) – and a 200-bed community teaching hospital, UMMC Midtown Campus. UMMC is a national and regional referral center for trauma, cancer care, neurological care, cardiac care, diabetes and endocrinology, women's and children's health, and has one of the largest solid organ transplant programs in the country. All physicians on staff at the flagship hospital are faculty physicians of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. At UMMC Midtown Campus, faculty physicians work alongside community physicians to provide patients with the highest quality care. UMMC Midtown Campus was founded in 1881 and is located one mile away from the University Campus hospital.