HonorHealth Summer High School Volunteer Program
Organization Mission
“The program is a seven-week session running from June to mid July and requires a commitment of two (2) four-hour shifts each week, with a minimum of six weeks of participation. If a high school volunteer misses three or more shifts during the seven-week session, they may be removed from the program. Volunteer shifts are available between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. If your family has a two-week vacation scheduled during the program dates, you are not eligible for the program as you cannot miss more than one week of service. Our high school volunteers perform a variety of duties in our medical centers and at Desert Mission Food Bank. High school volunteers will interact with HonorHealth team members, patients, and family members. This experience allows them to improve communication skills and build confidence while giving back to the community.”
Age Restrictions
Volunteers must have completed 10th grade and must be at least 15 years of age.
Application Process
I volunteered at Honor Health because I wanted to get more firsthand experience being in a hospital setting while also serving my community. The application process was very straightforward. There are three short answer prompts, and these answers must fit within a page. The first question asks about a personality trait that will aid in providing success as an HonorHealth volunteer. The second question asks to choose one of Honor Health ICARE values (Innovation, Collaboration, Accountability, Respect, Empathy) and write about its importance, and the third question asks about how the volunteer plans to prioritize this duty. Then, you are required to choose an in-person interview panel date for the volunteer supervisors to get to know more about you and assess your ability to handle hypothetical situations in the hospital. For example, they asked me what I would do if there was a visitor who needed my help while I was already in the middle of helping someone else. Hypothetical questions like these are super important to answer wisely as the supervisors want to hear your voice and see how you can bring value to the hospital!
Firsthand Experience(s)
Once you are chosen for a volunteer position, you are assigned to one of four duties: information desk volunteer, supply chain volunteer, surgery waiting volunteer, or Desert Mission Food Bank volunteer. I was chosen as a front desk volunteer. When working at the front desk, you are the first person individuals see when they walk in the hospital. So, an integral part of this role is being the embodiment of an exceptional first impression regarding the hospital’s workings, and making it clear to individuals they will be in good hands throughout their visit. Aside from being a friendly face, some of my specific duties included escorting visitors to patient rooms and/or waiting areas, discharging patients, answering the phone, collecting mail, cleaning wheelchairs, and delivering flowers to patient rooms. I very much enjoyed my time as a front desk volunteer, because I was able to talk to countless amounts of individuals. When I escorted visitors to patient rooms, I had conversations about sports, the weather, and any other basic topics to help make the visitor feel more comfortable when being in a hospital. Something just as simple as making small talk with the visitors while walking to the elevators had truly uplifted both my and their experience while at HonorHealth. After escorting people to their destinations, they would often express their gratitude for walking with them, thank me for being so helpful, and ask for my name to make our exchange more personal. This had been my favorite part of being a volunteer. Seeing how my actions positively impacted the patients and visitors was really the highlight of my experience. I would recommend this program to anyone who is interested in serving their community and/or pursuing a career in healthcare. It is also a great way to learn more about medicine through their Meet. Discover. Explore (MED) sessions that offer events like touring specific parts of the hospital (operating room, trauma centers, etc.) and hands-on events/simulations like learning how to control life-threatening bleeding. I absolutely loved this program and will definitely be coming back to it the following summer! - Aliya Batheja
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