Pre-Health Career Corps

The Pre-Health Career Corps (PHCC) is a free, year-round program designed to spark curiosity, build skills, and ignite passion for healthcare careers among middle school, high school, and college students across Hawai‘i Island. Through immersive, hands-on experiences, one-on-one mentorship, and real-world clinical exposure, PHCC empowers local youth to explore the many pathways in health and medicine—right here at home.

PHCC is more than just a program; it’s a movement to grow Hawai‘i’s future healthcare workforce from within. By working closely with teachers, healthcare professionals, and community leaders, PHCC connects students to workshops, shadowing opportunities, and career talks that make STEM and healthcare careers exciting, accessible, and achievable.

Our mission is to build a strong, homegrown pipeline of healthcare professionals—from classroom to career—so that every student in Hawai‘i County can see a future in healthcare, and every community can benefit from their care.

The purpose of the Hawai'i Island AHEC is to improve the health of the underserved through education. There are four main activity areas:

Educating and recruiting students to health professions from K-12 schools.
Educating health professions students in the rural and underserved communities of Hawai'i, often in multi-professional teams.
Recruiting health care professionals to rural and underserved areas and providing continuing education.
Providing community based and community driven education for all underserved groups in Hawai'i.

The Hawai'i Island Pre-Health Career Corp is a FREE program for High School & Undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing or learning about careers in health.

This includes those who are interested in medicine, nursing, social work, physical therapy, speech pathology, public health, medical technology, EMT, veterinary science AND MUCH MORE!

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Benefits of PHCC

Shadowing Healthcare Professionals

As a Pre-Health Career Corps member, you are eligible for opportunities to observe and potentially shadow healthcare professionals as they provide care for patients in multiple environments. Students not only receive valuable volunteer hours and experience, but also network and speak with various local healthcare professionals within the Hilo Benioff Medical Center and Rural Health Clinics.

Participate in Hands-On Workshops

We offer various workshops year-round! Our popular hands-on PHCC clinical skills workshops include:

Suturing, Injections, Manual Blood Pressure Measurments, Respiratory Exams, Vision Screening, First-Aid & Wound Care, Splinting, Casting, "Tar Wars", and MANY MORE!

Additionally, PHCC offers various professioanl development workshops, including:

HIPPA Certification, Resume Writing, Scholarship Applications, Interview Skills

ALOHA Cart

In an effort to help to improve patient satisfaction during their hospital stay, the Aloha Cart delivers a free comfort items to patients and their visitors throughout the Hilo Benioff Medical Center. This unique opportunity allows for students to be immersed in various hospital departments, gaining valuable volunteer hours, in-person patient interactions, and experience in multiple healthcare environments within the Hilo Benioff Medical Center, including the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Medical Unit, and Extended Care Unit.

Gain Leadership Experience

Corps Leaders serve as mentors to high school Corps members. Mentors and mentees email each other at least four times a year and meet at PHCC workships and events.

Participate in PHCC Teen Health Camps!!

CLINICAL SKILLS ACTIVITIES

The Pre-Health Career Corps focuses on hand-on learning by providing opportunities for members to be introduces to a variety of clinical skills through near-peer demonstrations and mentorship

First Aide /Emergency Wound Care / Splinting

Many of PHCC's hands-on clinical skills workshops were developed to not only get students excited about the activities, but to educate and empower them to utilize these skills at home, school, and in the community. Our First aid/ Emergency Wound Care & Splinting workshops all provide skills that students may use in their everyday life. Students will learn basic first aid and wound care for various common abrasions and injuries. Students will learn about cleaning wounds and sterilization and will proceed to practice bandaging wounds with ACE bandages and other types of first-aid equipment.

Casting

Students will learn about the basics of casting, including information regarding the most common type of fracture (Fall On an Outstretched Hand, commonly known as FOOSH) which results in a distal radius fracture. Students will practice putting on a short arm cast on one another to "treat" a simulated FOOSH fracture. Putting a Cast on a Broken Arm is a common medical procedure designed to stabilize and protect a fractured bone while it heals. This activity is typically performed by trained healthcare professionals, such as orthopedic specialists, nurses, or casting technicians, in a hospital or clinic.

Phlebotomy

Phlebotomy is the practice of drawing blood from a patient for medical testing, research, transfusions, or donation. It is a specialized skill performed by trained healthcare professionals known as phlebotomists. This procedure is essential in diagnostic medicine, as blood samples provide critical information about a person’s health and help in diagnosing conditions such as infections, diseases, or deficiencies.

Healthcare Shadowing at the Hilo Benioff Medical Center

PHCC Student Healthcare Shadowing is an educational experience where students observe professionals in healthcare settings to gain insights into the daily responsibilities, challenges, and skills required in the medical field. It is commonly pursued by high school or college students interested in careers such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, or other healthcare roles.

CPR & AED Training

HMC Foundation “Be a Lifesaver” Presentation. Practice chest compressions on HMCF Maniquennis and learn how to use an AED utilizing group effort and HMCF Demo AED Units.

Chest Compression-Only CPR Training focuses on teaching individuals how to perform hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during a cardiac arrest emergency. This method is recommended for bystanders who are untrained or hesitant to provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It emphasizes high-quality chest compressions as the most critical action to maintain blood flow to vital organs until professional medical help arrives.

Injections

The Injections 101 workshop introduces students to the methods of delivering medications or substances into the body using a syringe and needle. The type of injection used depends on the medication, its intended effect, and the area of the body being targeted. Students learn about the main types of injections: Intramuscular (IM) Injections, Subcutaneous (SC or SubQ) Injections, Intravenous (IV) Injections, Intradermal (ID) Injections, and more!

How to properly prepare for and give a proper injection, utilizing injection simulation pads, sterile gloves, syringes and various needle gauges, and colored water.

Microscopes & Introduction to Medical Research

Microscopes in Medical Research are indispensable tools that allow scientists and healthcare professionals to observe and analyze structures too small to be seen with the naked eye. By providing detailed visualizations of cells, tissues, and microorganisms, microscopes have played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of diseases, diagnostics, and treatments.

SUTURING

PHCC Students will learn the basics of suturing, including the types and names of the tools commonly used. Among many types of suturing techniques, students will learn about two commonly used methods: the simple interrupted and running ladder techniques. Students will practice both methods on arm models.

Wound Preparation, positioning and sterility, needle insertion, knot tying, and post procedure care are all covered during this favorite clinical skills workshop activity

Hawai'i Island
PHCC Teen Health Camps

PHCC coordinates major healthcare careeer and multiple clinical skills workshop events annually in both Hilo and Kona! These events bring togetgher students from multiple Hawai'i Island High Schools, and various healthcare professional and student volunteers to lead each clinical skills workshop activities.

Our most recent Teen Health Camp in Winter 2024 was hosted by the Hawai'i Community College Pālamanui Nursing School Campus in Kailua-Kona. More than 125 West Hawai'i Health Academy students from Kealakehe, Konawaena and Honoka'a high schools. The participants got to participate in various workshops, including suturing, Injections, Blood Pressure/Circulatory system, Surgical Tech Career Demonstrations, and more!

Additionally, 30 healthcare students and professionals volunteered to run the various clinical skills workshops and mentor the health academy students. Volunteers represented multiple HBMC Foundation partners, including the UW-Kona MEDEX Physician Assistant Program, Pālamanui Nursing Program, Daniel K. Inouye School of Pharmacy, the Kona Community Hospital Surgical Tech Program, and the Hilo Benioff Medical Center!

PHCC's next Teen Health Camp will take place in East Hawai'i at Waiakea High School in March of 2025!