ORANGE PARK – HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital has welcomed 17 high school juniors and seniors into their summer teen volunteer program, the only program of its kind in the area.

The program, which began in 2006, is eight weeks long and accepts students interested in working in the healthcare industry. Teens around the area eagerly apply each year for the opportunity to gain experience in the medical field. Each student spends their summer shadowing and assisting staff and patients with simple duties to gain knowledge of working in a hospital.

This year’s program welcomed students from a variety of high schools in the area including Chau, Chinmay, Christopher and Jacobo from Fleming Island High and Dahlia and Jessica from Oakleaf, Brianna and Brooke from Atlantic Coast, Shruthi from The Bolles School, Trent and Caden from Creekside, Candace, Helena, Nicholas from Douglas Anderson and Jacob from Stanton College Prep.

The students kicked off the program with an orientation that included a panel of residents as well as nurses for a question and answers session about the path to a career in the medical field. The students also had the opportunity to learn about hospital security and infection prevention protocols.

While in the program, each student will have the opportunity to engage with patients by meeting their non-clinical needs such as supplying them with additional pillows, blankets and other supplies when needed, and guiding visitors to their loved one’s rooms. Other students interested in healthcare administration will spend their time in non-clinical areas of the hospital.

The students will be volunteering in HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital’s medical-surgical nursing units, labor and delivery, the neonatal intensive care unit, the chest pain unit, as well as the marketing and accounting departments.