The Program began 25 years ago offering an extraordinary summer work experience to outstanding college students who were interested in careers in health care.

 

Summer Student Scholarship Program

The Scholars observe a variety of environments including trauma in the emergency room, surgical procedures in the operating room, special care for patients in the ICU, outpatient care in the satellite clinic system, and postmortem exams in the coroner’s office. 

The students are assisted in developing a research project in an area of their interest.  They spend one-half of their time in the clinical setting, and half their time working on the research project.  At the end of eight weeks the results of the research are presented at a medical conference at the Ventura County Medical Center.  Several of the most important research projects have been presented at nationally recognized medical conferences at both the state and national level.

For years, students have come out of the program eager to pursue careers in healthcare.  The program has truly been an asset to the education and service offered at VCMC.

“I had already graduated with a degree in Psychology and Spanish when I realized I might be interested in pursuing a career in medicine,” said college student Laurel Back.

Before committing to two additional years of required science courses, however, she wanted to be sure that a career in healthcare was what she really wanted. “The Summer Scholar Program with the Family Medicine Residency at VCMC gave me exactly the opportunity I desired and needed to realize that a career in healthcare is exactly what I wanted to pursue.