By Antonia Ehlers
High school senior Sienna Sanii hopes to become a sonographer one day. She is one of 22 high school and college students who graduated from Kaiser Permanente’s School of Allied Health Sciences Summer Internship Program on Tuesday morning.
“I like looking inside different parts of the body – it’s kind of cool,” Sanii said. “In science class, I’ve always liked looking under a microscope. This internship program is great because you meet a lot of people and build your résumé The people were friendly, and the experience was fun.”
“This initiative fosters invaluable opportunities for youth and strengthens the community’s commitment to nurturing future health care professionals.”
The four-week program is a partnership between Kaiser Permanente’s School of Allied Health Sciences and the City of Richmond, YouthWORKS. The City of Richmond provides a paid stipend to students in the program. During the graduation ceremony, City of Richmond Workforce Program Manager Bouakhay Phongboupha said she is grateful to the City of Richmond for its generous allocation of funds to support youth in health care programs.
“This initiative not only fosters invaluable opportunities for our youth, but also strengthens our community’s commitment to nurturing future health care professionals,” she noted. “This is the beginning of your journey. It uplifts my heart and soul. Education is the key to success and living a wonderful life.”
Kaiser Permanente health care professionals introduce the students to various types of health care careers and offer professional development trainings. During Tuesday’s graduation ceremony, the young interns presented impressive PowerPoint presentations on their areas of focus, which included sonography, counseling, nuclear medicine, phlebotomy, medical assisting, X-ray technology and bone densitometry.
Eighteen-year-old Ariana Rodriguez hopes to become an ultrasound technician for Kaiser Permanente one day. She currently works at In-N-Out Burger, and she said the customer service skills she has learned in this role will help her when she tends to patients in the future.
“I want to be part of helping parents-to-be,” she said. “That would be so exciting. I’m interested in this field because it makes me happy to connect with people.”
Rodriguez’ mom, Alexandra Iribarren, will begin the bone densitometry program in the fall. She hopes to find a job in the bone densitometry field.
Rosemary Viramontes is one of the cofounders of the summer internship program. She worked for the City of Richmond for 23 years and served on the Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences Board of Directors.
“I’m thrilled and pleased to see that you’re all in the beginning of new career paths,” she said. “Our goal is for you to be empathetic when you’re working with patients. That means being caring when you’re out there. You’re going to be part of the solution to make them feel better.”
Viramontes added that it’s imperative for the local community to be aware of the Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences.
“There are so many wonderful opportunities and programs here,” she said.
The Summer Internship Program, now in its fifth year, is led by Kaiser Permanente Community Relations Specialist Karen Wilson.
“Don’t be afraid to go after your goals,” she said to the graduates. “You might feel alone but remember this: the sun is always alone and shines every day.”
This report was submitted for publication by Kaiser Permanente of Northern California.
