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What are Junior Health Scholars?
What are Junior Health Scholars?
Become a part of the care delivery and administrative teams who work together to deliver excellent patient care and explore whether a career in health care is right for you!
The Junior Health Scholar program offers high school students, aged 16-18, the opportunity to observe how patient care and administrative teams collaborate to deliver excellent care and explore whether a career in healthcare is right for them. The program is offered year-round at select sites in Hawaii and Washington.
Why Junior Health Scholar?
Why Junior Health Scholar?
Learn about the career path for your future profession
Develop relationships and receive mentoring opportunities from staff and college-aged Health Scholars
Decide if a career in health care is right for you and which profession is the best fit
Receive a completion certification from Univeristy of Puget Sound upon graduation
Receive preferred admission into the Health Scholar program
JHS Tracks & Commitment
JHS Tracks & Commitment
Our Junior Health Scholars complete 164 clinical volunteer hours. At program completion, JHS students will receive a certification from the University of Puget Sound. Most students participate in our 9-month track that requires a commitment of two 2-hour shifts per week. For those looking to complete the program more quickly, we offer a 3-month track with a commitment of four 2-hour shifts per week. Our 3-month JHS students will receive priority shift selection, allowing them to have first pick in selecting shifts to ensure timely completion of the program. Junior Health Scholars will also participate in project hours along with our Health Scholars.
9-Month Track: 6 hours a week [two 2-hour clinical shifts, one 2-hour project shift]
3-Month Track: 10 hours a week [four 2-hour clinical shifts, one 2-hour project shift]
Junior Health Scholar Role
Junior Health Scholar Role
Junior Health Scholars can become a member of the patient care team and assist hospital staff by answering call lights, repositioning patients, delivering water and blankets, discharging patients, and restocking commonly used items. JHS students are not permitted in isolation rooms, but are allowed to observe procedures and converse directly with a range of hospital staff, including CNAs, Nurses, Physicians, Respiratory Therapists, Physical Therapists, and more. For further program requirements and information for prospective applicants, click here.
Junior Health Scholar vs Health Scholar
Junior Health Scholar vs Health Scholar
Our Health Scholar program is our college-level division, with a broader scope of practice than JHS. Health Scholars can independently take patient vitals, round on patients, assist with feeding and ambulating patients who are not at risk of falls, transfer and discharge patients, and answer call lights and talk with patients. Health Scholars will assist nursing staff with repositioning and ambulating patients at risk of falls, as well as observe a range of procedures. The Health Scholar program offers students three tracks: 15-month, 9-month, or 3-month, in which to complete 280 clinical volunteer hours.
Transitioning from Junior Health Scholar to Health Scholar
Transitioning from Junior Health Scholar to Health Scholar
Junior Health Scholars receive preferred admission into the Health Scholar program, which offers hands-on experience and opportunities to mentor Junior Health Scholars. We encourage Junior Health Scholars to join the Health Scholar program as soon as they are eligible. Reduced tuition is offered to students who transition into the Health Scholar program. Students will pay a bridge fee of $140 to transfer from the JHS 9-month track into the 15-month Health Scholar track. JHS students interested in transitioning to Health Scholar will need to become BLS CPR certified through the American Heart Association. You can find the CPR courses here.
For more information on the Junior Health Scholar Program click here.
Commonly Asked Questions:
Do JHS hours transfer over to the Health Scholar program?
Nothing from the JHS program transfers over to the Health Scholar (HS) program except your experiences and staff relationships! JHS hours do not count towards HS, as they are two different programs with distinct scopes for students, regardless of whether students complete the JHS program hours or not.
Can JHS students still transfer over to the Health Scholar Program if they do not fully complete the 164 JHS hours?
Yes, JHS students may transfer over to Health Scholar at any point as long as they meet the Health Scholar requirements. You can find the requirements here. However, students who do not complete the JHS track (164 hours) will not receive a JHS certification through KGI.
Will JHS students need to retrain to become a Health Scholar?
Yes, JHS students will need to participate in a Health Scholar-specific training at the time of their transfer. This is because Health Scholars are given a larger scope and have more hands-on patient tasks.
Why do the programs have different tracks?
The Health Scholar (HS) program requires more clinical volunteer hours than JHS does. The JHS 9-month track is equivalent to the HS 15-month track as they both require 6 hours (one 4-hour clinical shift and one 2-hour project shift) per week. The JHS 3-month track is equivalent to the HS 9-month track as they both require 10 hours (two 4-hour shifts and one 2-hour project shift) per week. The HS 3-month track requires 20+ hours a week, consisting of roughly five 4-hour shifts and one 2-hour project shift per week.
Please reach out to our Program Manager,Matt Schaack, at mschaack@copehealthsolutions.com for more information regarding these positions.
Learn how to join Leaders here.
Leadership Opportunities for JHS Students
Leadership Opportunities for JHS Students
COPE is a professional development program for students interested in a healthcare career. As part of the program, we offer leadership opportunities for JHS students! JHS students will work directly with our college-aged Health Scholars on our Leaders Team.
Leadership positions available for JHS students include:
JHS Recruitment Coordinator - Students will research the backgrounds of local high schools and present our program to students and potential applicants of JHS. The JHS RC will report to the Director of Recruitment and assist Health Scholar RCs in promoting the program through social media and informational sessions. The JHS RC is encouraged to explore new recruitment methods.
JHS Department Coordinator - The JHS DC will assist JHS students in scheduling shifts and report directly to the Assistant Director of Departments. This includes tasks such as managing JHS schedules, tracking JHS student hours, weekly floor checks, and assisting Health Scholar Department Coordinators in Department-Specific Trainings (DST) for JHS student rotations.
Admin Team Coordinator - JHS students will assist admin and enrollment coordinators with various administrative and clearance tasks for new and current Health Scholars and JHS students. The JHS AC will report directly to the Assistant Director of Administration.
JHS Training Ambassador - The JHS TA will assist our Training Coordinators with JHS-specific trainings. This will include describing Junior Health Scholar tasks, answering questions, and providing feedback to new JHS students. The JHS TA will attend all training days specific to JHS students and report directly to our Training Coordinators.
Leaders Ambassador - This position allows students interested in leadership and professional development the opportunity to learn more about Leaders by attending Leaders Team meetings and events. Students will be exposed to the inner workings of the COPE program at MultiCare Deaconess and Valley Hospitals without any additional commitments. This is a great entry-level position for JHS students interested in joining the Leaders Team in the near future.
COPE Junior Health Scholar Informational Document and Flyer:
COPE Junior Health Scholar Information for Pre-Health Advisors.pdfJHS_Flyer_MultiCare.pdfQuestions?
Email our Director of Recruitment, Marissa, at MHSSdre@copehealthscholars.org.
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