Health Career Opportunity Program

The Health Career Opportunity Program (HCOP), originally conceptualized by Dr Howard A Rusk and funded in 1971 by the Lila and DeWitt Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, completed its 37th year in 2008. The HCOP has trained over 5000 students since its inception and during the six-year review period of 1997-2003 trained 810 college students and college bound high school seniors. The main purpose of the program is to give students a clinical experience in a rehabilitation career such as: Rehabilitation Medicine, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Horticultural Therapy, Clinical Nutrition, Speech Pathology, Rehabilitation Nursing, Therapeutic Recreation, Psychology, Bioengineering, Pastoral Care and Special Education. The program has also been a source of staff and faculty to both the Department of Rehabilitation and Tisch Hospital.

During the past 20 years many research laboratories have closed and/or downsized in Rehabilitation Medicine such that our capability to give experiences in research areas have decreased dramatically. To compensate for this reduction in opportunities, the Radiation Oncology, Medical Oncology and Plastic Surgery departments of NYUMC have also offered placements to our students. These departments have combined clinical and research settings for the students to give them a broad based experience. Dr Fred Epstein, the internationally renowned pediatric neurosurgeon has always given HCOP students a chance to work with him, even when he transferred his practice to Beth Israel North.

Students are accepted for three four-week sessions during the Months of June, July and August. Each student is assigned to a specific employee at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in one of the above departments. Students spend most of their time in their respective departments, but can also attend Patient Evaluations, Discharge Planning sessions, Book Club, special lectures and Grand Rounds. Students are instructed in the proper use of HIPAA rules and patient privacy guidelines. Students are given an instructional course in “How to Use a Medical Library” so that they can facilitate their research and enhance their library skills. Each day ends with a large group learning session and small individual group meetings. The students are given a final exam based on the afternoon lecture program and students who pass are given certificates of course completion.

Starting in 1995 a new type of program was created for non-college bound economically disadvantaged students. The program was called the Hospital Work Program (HWP). The Heckscher Foundation For Children, through the generosity of Mrs. Virginia Sloane, President, initially funded the Hospital Work Program. Through 1999, the Heckscher Foundation funded 52 students. In 2000 and 2001 the Owen Cheatham Foundation, President Celeste W Cheatham took over the primary funding of thirty students, fifteen each year. In 2002 and 2003, the Pfizer Healthcare Internship Program administered by The United Way of New York funded 20 students, ten each year.

All of these HWP students worked in non-clinical settings throughout the hospital and in various departments such as nursing education, health service, admitting, medical records, print shop and radiology. Many of the students were hired to work part-time in the hospital during the following school year because they demonstrated excellent work habits and were so productive. This is even more important since most of theses students had no previous work experience. Our goals, to introduce a positive work environment, learning to be a team player and being responsible to a job were successfully achieved. George Lucido of the rapid-repro department, volunteered and helped to supervise this program.

Although introducing students to hospital-based careers is the main objective of the HCOP and HWP, there are additional goals these programs achieve. Able-bodied students are introduced to a disabled population, often for the first time. The students gain insight from watching professionals treat these patients and also from the personal relationships that develop over the time they spend in the program. The programs, through multimedia presentations, work on breaking down stereotypes of the disabled populations. We challenge the conventional wisdom of what a disabled person can and cannot do. We educate these young adults about the needs of the disabled population both physically and emotionally as well as sensitize them to the barrier free design needed in New York today. We also teach prevention of spinal cord injuries to the students. And, last but not least, the programs teach future health practitioners and potential lay leaders that the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine is a resource of knowledge, healing, and service to their community.