AnMed Cannon Inspires the Next Generation of Healthcare Heroes

From the classroom to the clinic, students in Pickens County are getting healthcare career-ready! AnMed Cannon recently partnered with the School District of Pickens County and Upstate AHEC to create a 40-hour health science internship for high school students. The internship combines in-person and virtual work-based learning to engage students in a three-part rotation including: tours of health science programs at Tri-County Technical College, 10 hours of virtual learning through SC AHEC’s online health careers modules and virtual clinical shadowing, and 24 hours of clinical rotations at AnMed Cannon in various settings including the operating room, pediatric, nursing, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, laboratory, and radiology. 
 
The partnership produced nine career-ready health science cluster students that gained confidence from real-world application. The clinical rotations provided students with first-hand experience in a rural healthcare setting, mentoring from healthcare professionals, and opportunities to build both soft skills and technical skills. It also raised awareness about hard to fill/high demand positions and exposed students to the small and rural healthcare setting. 
 
To assist other school districts and hospitals in forming similar partnerships, the School District of Pickens County created Internship Guidelines for Students. You can learn more about SC AHEC here and access their online learning modules here.