The COPE Health Scholars Program offers pre-healthcare students access to direct patient care and hospital administrative areas at partnering hospitals. Participants become valuable members of the care team, working alongside nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals while earning completion certificates through the 兔子先生.
Rosali Patterson 鈥27, a chemistry major from Portland, Oregon, joined the COPE Health Scholars program in May 2024 and has since accumulated over 360 hours of patient care experience. What started as a three-month commitment has evolved into a leadership role, as she was recently hired as a health scholar assistant at Adventist Health Portland to help manage the program. Her journey illustrates the program's potential for both professional development and career advancement. In this Q&A, she shares her experience with the program and offers insights into how it has helped shape her future career.
What drew you to apply for the COPE Health Scholars program?
I was looking to do something more patient-centered where I could actually start getting clinical experience. What also drew me to applying was the fact that you get a certificate in pre-licensed clinical care, you get to work directly with patients, and you also have opportunities for leadership and career growth within the company and the hospital. I really liked how varied it was and how you can choose what department you want to stay in and how quickly you want to get through the program.
Can you walk us through what a typical day looks like in the program?
I start my day on med-surg by making sure the unit is stocked, then I go around and check on all of the patients on the unit. I take vitals for anyone who has a lot of patients, help distribute meals, do bed alarm audits, and just walk around doing any tasks that the nurses need me to do. Typically, our duties are feeding, bathing, changing, making beds, helping deliver meals, helping patient family members find their rooms, but a lot of it is just talking to the patients, making sure that they feel like they're not alone.
What's been your experience working within different departments?
I mainly work in the emergency department, but I've also been on med-surg (medical-surgical), as well as our telemetry department. I love helping out with cases that have any sort of minor procedures, so if we need to drain an abscess, suture a laceration, or clean out a wound, they'll call me over so that I can assist. I also do a lot of splinting of broken bones, and helping get patients set up when they come off the ambulance. The staff really takes a lot of care to get to know us personally, the things that we like, the things that we want to learn about, and they try to help us out wherever possible.
How does the program accommodate students with busy schedules?
The nice thing about this program is that you can choose between three options for how long you'd like to be in the program. Our traditional path 鈥 what a majority of our scholars do 鈥 is the 15-month track. It's one four-hour shift per week. So, it's really nice for people who are a little nervous about being in a healthcare setting. We also have a program track that takes nine months to complete, and that requires two four-hour shifts per week. I chose to do our 3-month track, which requires five four-hour shifts per week, since I鈥檓 only in Portland for the summers, and I wanted to see what an actual schedule would look like for someone who has a career in healthcare. The more shifts you do per week, the more departments you get access to as well, so it was perfect for me. What鈥檚 great is that we have flexible schedules. We pick our shifts for the month, and it鈥檚 all done online from our phones; nothing is assigned to us.
What unexpected benefits have you discovered through the program?
I鈥檝e loved being able to network and meet a ton of people who are in different healthcare fields. I've been able to shadow surgeons and make connections with staff who are techs, secretaries, nurses, PAs, CNAs, and doctors. The other great thing is personal development. These patients aren鈥檛 just cases 鈥 they鈥檙e people. They're someone's sisters, mothers, brothers, fathers, and friends. They're not just a statistic. Having conversations with them and hearing their experiences, it鈥檚 amazing how much you can grow as a person through this program.
Where do you see yourself after this program, and how has it prepared you?
After I graduate, I am planning on taking a gap year and getting my medical assistant license. I would like to stay with the program as long as I can, though. I also really enjoy the whole aspect that it is a volunteer experience. Service has always been really important to me. After that, I'll apply to medical schools; I鈥檓 hoping to do some sort of surgery, but I鈥檓 unsure of what specialty. The staff at Adventist really helped me make the decision to go for medical school, as well as Eric Scharrer, my advisor; they were all just super supportive.
To learn more about the COPE Health Scholars program and application requirements, visit the program website or contact the 兔子先生's pre-health advising office.
