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Health Occupations and Professions Exploration (HOPE) Program

Health Occupations and Professions Exploration (HOPE) Program

The HOPE Program is a one-day seminar that is designed to offer under-represented groups of high school students the opportunity to learn about a list of more than 40 specific careers in health care with the guidance of a college mentor.

Learn More:
HOPE link

Currently, the HOPE staff and volunteers offer sessions for students Dane County high schools involved in programs such as AVID/TOPS from Boys and Girls Club. Students work with a college mentor for the duration of a day-long Saturday seminar.

The requirements for serving as a volunteer mentor for HOPE are current enrollment at a college or university, undergraduate or graduate, with any declared major, and willingness to have a background check completed and attend the entirety of one HOPE session. If you are a current college or university student and would like to apply to be a mentor, please fill out this form: HOPE Mentor Application (pdf)

During the sessions, students and their mentors hear from and have a chance to network with speakers from UW Health who are working in health care careers. Students and mentors also take part in hands-on and curricular activities to aid them in becoming familiar with the specific careers available in the health care setting. The HOPE session concludes with the students completing a “road map” into the career in which they are most interested. The “road map” includes mapping out a current academic plan as well as a plan for post-secondary education and training.

After completing a HOPE session, students are eligible to apply (through their respective community organizations) for summer internships at UW Health and we encourage students to apply for our Youth Apprenticeship program by early March.

If you would like to support the efforts of the HOPE program financially, you can make a donation to the HOPE program through the University of Wisconsin Foundation. All donations are fully tax-deductable. Checks should be made out to: UW Foundation (HOPE Program) and mailed to:

UW Foundation
Attn: Danielle Kamps
1848 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53726

Donations to HOPE aid in purchasing t-shirts, food, transportation and printed materials for the high school students, all of whom demonstrate socio-economic need. Donations to HOPE also make offering HOPE sessions possible for other community organizations who serve under-represented groups.

If you have any additional questions about HOPE, please email careerpathways@uwhealth.org

Summer Internships

Summer internships provide an essential experiential learning experience for students hoping to pursue careers in health care. All summer interns must have completed a session of HOPE prior to the start of their internship.  After reviewing focus topics and making choices, Interns will then be matched with a UW-Madison or UW Health Stakeholder in which Interns interview and present in a summative seminar.

Internship hours are asynchronous and run over a 6-week period. Interns work regularly with the UW Health Career Pathways and our CPC Internship Coordinator, who oversees the internship experience and aids in communicating with both the student interns and the stakeholders and/or directors.

Community Based Organizations that are interested in requesting summer internship placement for students need to contact Career Pathways email. Students who wish to be considered for a summer internship must apply through their community organization; individual applications will not be considered.

UW Health currently works with the following organizations to offer summer internship opportunities to students:

Career Counsel Program

UW Health provides career coaching in more than 70 specific health care careers and professional skill set guidance via a partnership with MMSD and Dane County Schools. “Career Counsel” is available to most high school-aged children attending public schools throughout Dane County, Wisconsin.

This community support program allows 9th-12th grade students to discuss and map their way into various careers in any part of the health care industry. Career Pathways leaders coach and correspond, in person via 1on1, with high school students who have questions about their career or who are already active in our CBO or healthcare-related spaces.

Career Counsel coaches are all UW Health Career Pathway’s employees and have met other internal organizational educational leadership requirements. To find out if your student’s school has access to our HOPE Career Counsel, please contact the school directly.

Job Shadowing/Observing at UW Health

UW Health allows students of all ages opportunities to observe work at various locations. In order to apply for observation within any areas providing patient care, a student must be a minimum of 16 years old. Students younger than 16 may only observe in areas not providing patient care. In order to apply to observe, students must meet the requirements outlined in the UW Health Non-Physician Observer Policy and fill out an Observer Application. Supplemental documentation of immunizations, TB skin testing and compliance training also is required. For more information about job shadowing/observing, contact Veronica Cox at (608) 890-5607.

Volunteering at UW Health

UW Health has a large volunteer pool. Volunteers work in many locations throughout the organizations and in many capacities. To find out more about volunteering for UW Health, please visit Volunteer Services.