Marc Fluery (left) is one of seven children in a family that emigrated from Haiti to the US in 1989. The family eventually settled in Dorchester and the children attended Boston Public Schools. Communication was an obstacle as they spoke Creole and French, but not English. Marc worried about being different and making friends. But, by the time he was in the sixth grade he spoke fluent English and by eighth grade, he was in all non-bilingual classes. Marc attended East Boston High where he was hired at the MGH as part of the Summer Jobs for Youth Program. He then applied and was accepted into the MGH ProTech Program, a 20-month internship experience at MGH for High School students interested in health careers. Marc interned in the MGH Inpatient Pharmacy. As a result of his ProTech experience, Marc decided he wanted to become a pharmacist. Following graduation from East Boston High and ProTech, he was one of three recipients of the MGH Edward M. Kennedy Health Career Scholarship. Marc currently attends Bay State College and hopes to transfer to Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, where he plans to study pharmaceutics. In the meantime, he continues to work part time in the MGH Pharmacy where he is now helping to supervise a ProTech student from East Boston.

MGH Center for Community Health Improvement has worked with the Boston Public Schools to offer underserved and underrepresented youth a wide range of opportunities in science and health careers. MGH sustains this commitment not only because it is the right thing to do, but also as a strategy to develop a more diverse, informed, academically prepared and skilled workforce. MGH Center for Community Health Improvement has partnered with the James P. Timilty Middle School, East Boston High School, and Health Careers Academy, and is the second largest summer employer of Boston youth.
MGH School Partnerships have significant impact:

• Over 1,000 students benefit each year.
• One hundred percent of ProTech graduates pursue post-secondary degree programs.
• $15,000 in scholarships are awarded each year to graduating seniors.
• 170 students participate in the Summer Jobs program, making MGH the number one employer of youth in the city of Boston within the healthcare sector.

MGH/Health Careers Academy Partnership

Health Careers Academy (HCa), a Boston charter school in the Fenway, recently joined MGH School Partnerships through an initiative spearheaded by the Massachusetts Physician's Organization (MGPO) and MGH Patient Care Services (PCS). Students from HCa participate in the ProTech Program, Job Shadow Day and the summer jobs program.

The partnership between HCa and MGH began when Chairman and CEO of MGPO, David Torchiana, MD, served as "Principal for the Day" at the school.  The MGPO and PCS also fund an annual scholarship program for HCa students.

2007 Program Data

• Six HCa students were selected to join the Center for Community Health Improvement ProTech program
• Ten students shadowed at MGH during the annual Job Shadow Day, five of them were hosted by MGPO physicians
• Eleven HCa students participated in summer jobs
• Two CPR courses, sponsored by MGPO and PCS were administered to 36 HCa faculty and staff

MGH/East Boston High School Partnership
Galia Wise, Program Manager

ProTech Program

For more than 15 years, the MGH Center for Community Health Improvement has participated in ProTech, a School-to-Career program through the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) that provides work-based career preparation for high school juniors and seniors interested in possibly pursing careers in health care.  MGH and the MGH Center for Community Health Improvement established the Edward M. Kennedy Health Career Scholarship to support and encourage outstanding ProTech graduates’ entry into post-secondary institutions, particularly in the areas of health care.

Every year, 12 new ProTech interns are identified through a competitive selection process. There are a total of about 24 ProTech interns at any one time. They are then employed over a 20 month period in hospital departments, including Patient Care Services, Pharmacy, Radiology, Nursing, Research, Pathology, and the department of Medicine. In addition to their work experience, ProTech interns participate in mandatory trainings, and professional development seminars. In addition, MGH sends speakers to East Boston High School to present on a variety of health and career topics, hosts student tours of the hospital, and participates in the National Groundhog Job Shadow Day.

2007 Program Data

• Two ProTech interns received the Edward M. Kennedy Health Career Scholarship.
• Nine interns graduated from the ProTech program and were all accepted into post-secondary institutions.
• Two graduates were recipient of the prestigious POSSE Scholarship.
• One intern was admitted to University of Pennsylvania’s Nursing program on a full scholarship.
• Five of the nine graduates have been hired as permanent employees of MGH and continue to work part-time while pursuing their college degrees. 
• Eight of the nine graduates have expressed an interest in pursuing a health related field.

Classroom at the Workplace Program
MGH Center for Community Health Improvement has participated in the PIC’s Classroom at the Workplace Program (CWP) for the past six summer.  MGH Center for Community Health Improvement provides jobs, including paid time to attend academic instruction for those who have not yet passed the Math and/or English portions of the MCAS, the state's standardized test required for high school graduation.

2007 Program Data

• Seven East Boston High School juniors and seniors participated in the program with a 92 percent average attendance rate and an 86 percent retention rate.
• Overall, program math scores increased an average of 10.5 percentage points between pre and post test, and English/language arts scores increased an average of 39.8 percentage points.
• Historical program success (2001-2006):73 percent of participating students passed both the English and Math MCAS tests, and an additional 21 percent passed either the English or the Math test.
  
  

Bridge to Advance Science Program

In the summer of 2006, MGH Center for Community Health Improvement worked with BPS to launch the Bridge to Advanced Placement Science Program, which seeks to increase enrollment, support and success in advanced placement science classes. The program’s objectives are to:

• To increase the number of students enrolling in AP Science courses
• To increase underrepresented minority participation in AP Science courses
• To better prepare students for success in AP Science courses
• To improve test scores in AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, and AP Physics courses

In addition to BPS and MGH, the partners for this program include PIC, Harvard Medical School, Northeastern University, UMass Boston, the College Board, and other school districts in the greater Boston area. Through the program, students receive an intensive introduction to the AP curriculum and an opportunity to “accelerate learning” in deficit areas, have individual tutors, take practice AP exams, and participate in monthly lab activities in a university setting. Students also participate in internships in area institutions that relate to their AP science class. The program provides support to AP science teachers, through monthly meetings in which the teachers share ideas and resources, discuss challenges and strategies, and hear from guest speakers. The program is funded by the STEM Pipeline Fund.

2007 Program Data

• Twenty East Boston High School seniors who were in ProTech and the J4Y program participated in the program, receiving paid instruction in AP Biology, and a paid summer job at MGH.
  
  
  
  

Boston Health Care Post Secondary Support Initiative

MGH Center for Community Health Improvement, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the PIC have designed a model for providing post-secondary transition support to BPS graduates who have demonstrated an interest in health care or health care management careers, and who will be pursuing post-secondary certificates or degrees in the Boston area. Most recently, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has joined this collaborative. Boston’s Health Care Post-Secondary Support Initiative is designed to address two critical issues:

• The decreasing supply of workers in the Boston labor market, simultaneous with increasing demand for culturally competent health care professionals
• The need for coaching, financial planning and support, and to successfully apply to and complete post-secondary health care certificate and degree programs

Many of the program applicants have demonstrated success through previous employment experiences at MGH either through ProTech or the J4Y programs. The participating students may apply for part-time jobs at MGH, and receive academic support, assistance with financial aid applications, peer support, and career workshops.

2007 Program Data

Currently, a total of 35 students are enrolled in the program, 18 of these program participants and/or graduates work at MGH while pursuing their college degrees.

• Since PS HealthCare's inception in 2004, five students who were participants in either the MGH ProTech Program or Summer Jobs for Youth have been accepted into nursing programs; two have been accepted into MA College of Pharmacy's Pharmacy Program; one has earned her Critical Care Technician certification; one has been accepted into a Social Work program; one is enrolled in pre-medical imaging courses; one is studying pre-medicine and one graduated from the City Lab Academy Program at Boston University. Other students have applied for admission into other health related programs and at the time of the publication are waiting to hear from admissions offices.

MGH/James P. Timilty Middle School Partnership
Valeria Lowe-Barehmi, Principal
Susan Berglund, Manager, MGH/Timilty Partnership

MGH Center for Community Health Improvement has been a partner of the James P. Timilty Middle School located on historic Fort Hill in Roxbury since 1989. The goal of this partnership is to improve the academic performance and expand the career horizons of the more than 600 Timilty students through programming with students, teachers, administrators, and families working in partnership with MGH scientists, physicians, and staff.

Science Connection and Science Mentoring Program

The Science Connection Program, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1994-2007, forms the core of the MGH-Timilty partnership. The goals of this program are to increase science literacy, enhance student interest in science/health careers and to create opportunities for students to interact with positive role models and mentors.
Mentors from a variety of departments including nursing, pharmacy, environmental services, respiratory care, nutrition, biomedical engineering and research, meet with Timilty students Friday mornings from October to February at MGH. Students work with mentors to decide on questions that can be answered through an investigation. Mentors guide students in setting up experiments, documenting observations, collecting and analyzing data and preparing oral presentations. All students in the school are required to participate in a school-wide, week-long science fair.  Last year, 69 MGH volunteers, parents, community members and BPS staff judged this fair, enabling every student to be judged twice. Over 65 percent of the judges were MGH/Partners employees. Partners HealthCare provided shuttle buses each day for the judges.

Two Science Family Activity Nights were held at the Museum of Science (MOS) this year. The first event entitled “Who Wants to Be a Neuroscientist?” drew a crowd of more than 250 students, staff and family members. For 14 percent of the families this was their first visit to the MOS. The second event, held in April, focused on the Darwin exhibit and natural selection. This event attracted another large group of 250 with 19 percent of them indicating that they had never been to MOS before.

2007 Program Data

• Twenty-nine students were paired with 38 MGH mentors and co-mentors from 34 departments through the Science Mentoring Program.
• Sixty-nine MGH staff, school volunteers, parents and community members served as judges in the school-wide Science Fair.
• Thirteen Timilty students represented their school at the Boston Regional Science Fair, where eight projects won awards. Four of the winners were mentored by MGH staff. Seven students competed at the Massachusetts State Science Fair where a mentored student won a third place award.

Professional Development and Curriculum Support

The MGH Center for Community Health Improvement program manager, an experienced science teacher and teacher trainer, provides professional development and curriculum support for science teachers at the school through weekly grade level curriculum sessions and science department meetings. During grade level meetings the support focuses on science content, pacing and classroom management. The department level professional development sessions focus on state and district level assessments, differentiating instruction, strategies for asking open-ended questions, and methods for embedding the Massachusetts Technology/Engineering frameworks into science lessons. Results from the 2007 administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Science and Technology exam showed improvement in student achievement. The percent of eighth grade students who passed the science test increased from 56 percent in 2006 to 69 percent in 2007.

Science in the Classroom

In collaboration with the MGH Institute of Health Professions (IHP), Science in the Classroom  brings students from the MGH IHP doctoral program in Physical Therapy to present science lessons to the Timilty students. Each lesson addresses state and local science standards for Human Body Systems and enhances the unit of study being taught by the classroom teacher. Lessons include fitness activities in the school gym, data collection and written reflections. During the 2006-2007 school year IHP students implemented the STEP UP Program, an obesity awareness program with 100 Timilty sixth grade students. Each student was given a pedometer and a piece of exercise Theraband to continue the fitness activities at home. Results presented by the IHP indicated that 87percent of the 6th grade students reported increased activity levels at the completion of the program.   Additionally, the IHP group reached the following conclusions: “that the utilization of a structured and concurrent classroom and gym program is effective at raising health awareness and promoting physical activity over a three month period in minority children.”

Summer Jobs for Youth (J4Y) Program

As the city’s largest health care employer, the MGH recognizes its responsibility to provide meaningful employment opportunities to Boston’s youth, and is the city’s largest provider of summer jobs in health care to young people. Since 1991, MGH has provided Boston youth, including students from East Boston High School, Timilty Middle School, and the Health Careers Academy, part-time (25 hours per week) summer employment throughout the hospital as well as the Revere and Chelsea HealthCare Centers. Students go through a rigorous hiring process, and participate in professional development workshops about future careers, particularly in health care. Supervisors also receive a program orientation and training on how to work with youth.

2007 Program Data

• MGH employed 196 high school students, 153 of whom were from Boston.
• Following the 2007 summer jobs program, 17 Boston youth (including ProTech interns) were hired into part-time positions at MGH.