Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and ApprenticeshipNH, a workforce program of the Community College System of New Hampshire (CCSNH), have teamed up alongside local school River Valley Community College in Claremont to create an innovative pre-apprenticeship program for high school students interested in pursuing future careers in healthcare.
The program will work to prepare participants for entry into the medical assistant, pharmacy technician and surgical technologist registered apprenticeship programs of Dartmouth Health’s Workforce Readiness Institute. The 14-week program is currently open to high school seniors age 17 and older, who will go on to participate in classroom instruction at RVCC and paid on-the-job learning as healthcare operations support assistants at DHMC.
“We are thrilled to be part of this exciting new pre-apprenticeship program for high school students who are exploring careers in healthcare. The goal of this program is to help students make informed choices about their plans after graduation. Creating opportunities for our regional youth to enter the workforce with the skills, knowledge, and readiness to succeed is at the heart of this program’s design, and supports the DHWRI’s goal of building a sustainable workforce pipeline that supports the work and mission of Dartmouth Health.
Jenny Macaulay, Manager of Workforce Strategy for Dartmouth Health
Apprentices who participate in the healthcare pre-apprenticeship program will get hands-on experience by working alongside teams that bring them into the inpatient, ambulatory, perioperative, and pharmaceutical environments. Pre-apprenticeship participants will be able to see firsthand how the many roles in healthcare, clinical, supply, infection prevention, nutrition, diagnostic, surgical, and administration work in a real workplace environment.
Dartmouth Hitchcock is a registered career school with the New Hampshire Department of Education. The program offers training and career advancement opportunities through comprehensive training programs that offer full-time employment with benefits and access to the state’s largest private employer. Participants will also have access to a nationally recognized teaching hospital and health system with the ability to earn college credits, state/national licenses, and certifications all while being paid to learn.
The ApprenticeshipNH program was established in 2016 through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. To date, a total of 371 individuals and 61 New Hampshire companies have benefitted from ApprenticeshipNH programs.
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