By: Laura Soukkavong –
BOSTON — Fourteen Boston high school students spent part of their summer working in patient care at Massachusetts General Hospital, gaining paid, hands-on clinical experience through a new program designed to move young people from the classroom into healthcare careers.
The inaugural PCA-in-Training Program placed students from the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers in hospital roles after they earned Certified Nursing Assistant credentials in 11th grade. The six-week experience is part of Mass General Brigham’s Youth Programs Summer Jobs initiative and a broader partnership aimed at creating career opportunities while addressing healthcare workforce shortages.
Among the first participants was Goldy Diaz, 17, a senior at the academy and an aspiring radiologist. Diaz spent 30 hours a week in Massachusetts General Hospital’s Endoscopy unit, where she worked under nursing supervision and helped with the daily responsibilities of a patient care assistant.
Her work included checking equipment, stocking supplies, preparing stretchers and helping patients through recovery. She also gained experience taking vital signs, assisting with mobility and personal care, and learning how to remove intravenous catheters in a clinical setting.
“Having one-on-one time with patients and seeing everything in person — it’s way worth it,” Diaz said in the Mass General Brigham report. Her experience offered a direct view of hospital work that classroom instruction alone could not provide.
Patient care assistants support nurses and other medical professionals by responding to patient needs, monitoring vital signs, helping people move safely, and ensuring that clinical areas have the supplies needed for treatment. The training program puts credentialed students into those responsibilities rather than limiting them to observation.
Erin O’Grady, nurse director of Endoscopy, explained that students work under the supervision and direction of nurses, just as other patient care assistants do. Diaz’s nursing assistant credential meant she was prepared to take on meaningful duties while continuing to learn from experienced staff.
Diaz described beginning her shifts at 8 a.m. by checking clinical glucometers, then helping organize equipment and prepare treatment spaces. During busy recovery periods, she helped monitor patients, assisted them with dressing and bathroom needs, and escorted them to waiting areas after confirming transportation.
The program also gave students opportunities to develop confidence and patient communication skills. Diaz recalled supporting a patient frustrated by repeated delays to a medical procedure. The patient’s eventual appreciation reinforced Diaz’s interest in a career devoted to patient care.
The initiative is part of the expanded Health Careers Training Partnership involving Mass General Brigham, the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, Bunker Hill Community College and the City of Boston. Bloomberg Philanthropies supports the partnership.
H. Kay Howard, Mass General Brigham’s director of Health Careers Training, said the program creates a route from high school coursework to paid clinical employment, with the possibility of continued work within the hospital system.
Howard also pointed to the academy’s Certified Nursing Assistant exam results: all 52 students in the junior-year group passed the exam. That credentialing success helped make the hospital placements possible.
For its first summer, the PCA-in-Training Program operated exclusively at Massachusetts General Hospital. Mass General Brigham expects to expand the opportunity to additional sites within its healthcare system when the program returns next summer.
The effort offers a practical model for preparing future healthcare workers: students gain paid experience and professional guidance while hospitals introduce qualified young people to the demands and responsibilities of caring for patients.