More than 85 teens from all over the Valley have chosen to spend their summer giving back to the community while exploring potential careers in the medical field. Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Centers offer eight-week volunteer programs for teens ages 14-18 with an interest in medicine and healthcare.
Seventeen-year-old Corinna Cluckey, who hopes to one day become a surgeon, has volunteered in the program at Banner Boswell for the past five summers. This year, she is working in the surgery department’s family waiting room, interacting with and comforting surgery patients and their families. Interacting with patients and their families is honing this future surgeon’s bedside manner.
Corinna Cluckey volunteers in Banner Boswell’s surgery family waiting room.
Lauren Harrell, 15, works on a program called “Life Stories” at Banner Del E. Webb, where she interviews patients about their lives, then writes up their stories to place in bedside frames. The stories provide nurses and other caregivers with personal perspectives about a patient before he or she was admitted into the unit. Lauren hopes to be a physician assistant and work in a neonatal unit one day.
After interviewing patients, Lauren creates a “life story” narrative, which helps Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center staff better understand their patients.
For more information on volunteer opportunities, visit bannerhealth.com or call the Volunteer Services departments of Banner Del E. Webb at 623-214-4058 or Banner Boswell at 623-876-5382. — Sadie Smeck
