AUSTIN - Deanna Phillips and Valerie Rincon; 11^th grade students in the Health Science program at Eastside Memorial Early College High School will begin a paid internship during the Spring 2020 semester as part of the new collaboration with City of Austin Public Health and the Career Technical Education (CTE) department of the Austin Independent School District (AISD). The goal of the new program is for high school students to gain broader perspectives about careers in public health as well as the traditional clinical occupations such as nurses, medical assistants and dental assistants. The overall aim of the internship is for these students to learn how the duties and responsibilities of public health workers impact the health of their community.

            Both students successfully completed the fall internship program and received an overview of the many initiatives coordinated by the Austin Public Health department. Students were given options of choice for their spring semester placement following the application process and formal interviews. Phillips will be placed at Health Equity and Community Engagement division where her duties include creation of social media marketing materials for HEU and she will provide assistance and maintenance of the HEU resource database for social service programs.  Rincon is scheduled to begin her internship at the Blackland Neighborhood Center. Her primary duties include providing support for the Neighborhood Nursing Services calendar and developing community outreach materials. Both students are expected to attend staff meetings and trainings, and support community outreach events as well.

            The internship placements will begin in January 2020 and end in May 2020. Student rotations will occur on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and each student will also have options to work up to 10 hours a week. Other than the Eastside Memorial students; the internships will also include seniors from Akins High School.

These internship placements are a result of campuses and district administrators to provide 21^st Century learning experiences for students enrolled in high schools and seeking careers in fields of healthcare. The internships coincide with both college and career exploration activities because of mentoring provided by public health staff to help students develop goals and plans beyond high school graduation.