1. Sustaining Our Future, Career Mentoring at Pondera Medical Center
Presented by: Mary Erickson, BSN, MSM
Director of Clinical Services
Pondera Medical Center, Conrad, MT

2. What is it:
A program put together in conjunction with Conrad High School Career Mentoring Class to expose students to all aspects of the healthcare industry.

3. How it started: Just a conversation with a teacher! School Board
Hospital Administration & Management Team

4. How it works: Business Tract Administration
Accounting – payroll, AR, AP
Business Office – billing
Reception IT
Purchasing
Medical Records/Transcription
Healthcare Tract
Acute Care
Extended Care
Home Health
Radiology
Lab
Doctor office
Dietary
Housekeeping
Engineering
PT/OT
Social Work
Case Management/Discharge Planning

5. How it works:
Jr. and Sr. students come to PMC 3 times a week for their last period (2:45 – 3:30) for a whole semester
They are each assigned an area for the week
The first week is 3 days of orientation:
Confidentiality – patient and business
Safety – facility codes, etc
Name tags and security
Student interests
Resume and interview review/practice

6. How it works: Students are graded on attendance and participation
Student evaluations are done by each area each week
Breeches in confidentiality result in automatic failure of the class
The last 2 -3 weeks are “student picks”
Complete a special project over the course of the semester

7. Program Goals: To expose students to healthcare careers
To help our high school also expose students to business in general and the “real world”
Hopefully peak an interest and support for PMC from a younger crowd

8. The Students:
Had 7 students with interest spanning from fashion design to IT to hairdresser to nursing.

9. What do they do when they’re here:
This is the hard part!
Area objectives (handout)
Always get a department overview to include educational background and requirements to work in an area
Data entry projects, resident activities, observation, checking outdates, QA and Infection Control activities – whatever you can think of!!!!

10. Feedback from Students:
Enjoyed it overall and found it to be a good use of their time
Timeframe seemed to be just right for most areas
We needed to be more prepared for their visits
More projects for them to do
More focus on individual career options

11. Feedback from Staff Enjoyed the interactions with the students
Enjoyed the opportunity to talk and show someone else their work
Was able to keep their work flow going
Thought time spent with them was too short
Sometimes difficult to find a project for them to do
Needed clearer expectations of what to do with them

12. What will we do different next year:
More focused with student interests
Have projects/duties lined up for them to do
Clearer objectives for both sides

13. What are you doing today to sustain the future of your organization?
“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery