Kaiser Permanente Recruits Local Students for Summer Job Training and Educational Opportunities

School may be out, but for some motivated students summer plans include a challenging and fulfilling opportunity to work in the health care and medical field.

For the 48th year, Kaiser Permanente is hosting KP LAUNCH, a program that allows high school and college students ages 16-20 to work in paid internships at its medical centers throughout California.

In the East Bay Area, 20 students will work in various departments at the Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Oakland and Richmond. They have already been selected from a competitive pool of applicants and represent schools from: Oakland Technical High School, Richmond High School, McClymonds High School, Berkeley High School, El Cerrito High School, Leadership High School, Lionel Wilson Prep and Cal-SAFE Fruitvale Academy. The students began their paid internships on June 13.

The program runs eight weeks and students will work in areas such as administration, clinical laboratory, pediatric neurosurgery, health education, surgery, psychiatry, patient care services and emergency.

In addition to working 40 hours a week, students will also participate in weekly professional development sessions. The sessions will cover topics including public speaking with Toastmasters, financial literacy and career planning. The students will also take tours of the hospitals and various Kaiser Permanente facilities, such as the Garfield Innovation Center in San Leandro and the Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences in Richmond.

The goal of the program is to build and sustain a diverse, culturally competent workforce for the future.

Since it started in 1968, KP LAUNCH, (formerly called the Summer Youth Employment Program), has been a valuable tool for introducing students to health care careers. Some graduates of the program have even returned to Kaiser Permanente as either full- or part-time employees.