Program Components:

Curriculum development

Secondary-post secondary partnership

Business-community partnership

Collaborative funding

Manager Healthcare Workforce Development Program,

Workforce Training

Tel: 707.535.3747

Email: jdulberg@santarosa.edu

primarily Latino youth.

pursue health careers for a diverse population in Sonoma County.

creating an opportunity for low income students to have an opportunity to explore health

careers. This dream was realized in the 2005 Summer Health Careers Institute. In it’s first

year of operation (the summer of 2005) twenty local high school students were selected

from 100 high school nominees to participate in the five week institute to explore

firsthand health care careers both on campus and at health care providers in the

community. Meeting Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm, students attended classes

in the Race Health Sciences Building In these classes students reviewed topics ranging

from medical terminology and universal precautions to the history of medicine. Student’s

also job-shadowed professionals on site and at health care organizations, including the

Sonoma County Health Department, Kaiser Hospital, Memorial Hospital, and Sutter

Hospital. Student participants earned 15 high school credits and 5 college units, plus they

each received a stipend of $1,250. This upcoming summer’s Health Career Institute will

serve 22 students, each of whom will receive a stipend of $1,000.

position, one administrative assistant, and one full time bilingual/bicultural outreach

coordinator.

Sciences Building. This state-of-the-art facility has the latest in telecommunication and

Health Care/Health Sciences technology, and has the capacity to double as a fully

operating Hospital as needed.

approximately $100,000. Funding has been primarily through a Chancellor’s Office

Industry Driven Regional Collaborative (IDRC) grant, however local fund raising has

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contributed to funding the operation, and local hospitals have donated significant in-kind

money toward the project.

schools and community organizations to promote participation in the project, however a

very effective bilingual/bicultural outreach specialist devotes a significant amount of time

in outreach to the Latino community in efforts to recruit participation, and keep the

community aware of the success of this activity.

completed the program. Out of 500 attendance days, only 8 days were lost due to

absences. As a follow up, the program holds Bi-monthly events for last year’s graduates

that are well attended. These events are planned to keep student interest up, and allows the

program to track student’s future plans. At this point 100% of all last summers attendees

are planning to go on to college, and four are planning to continue their education at Santa

Rosa Jr. College upon graduation from high school.

seed money from grants or business and industry to be replicated. Program staff believe

that there is significant Health Care/Hospital interest in such activities, and believes that

enthusiastic fund raising activities could raise a portion of the necessary funds, if not all

the necessary funds for a scaled down version of this program.