WVU Medicine celebrates fifth graduating class from Project SEARCH
MORGANTOWN — Seven interns in the Project SEARCH program at WVU Hospitals graduated Thursday morning after completing nine months of internships in various departments throughout the hospital.
Project SEARCH is a nationwide initiative designed for recent high school graduates up to age 25 with disabilities. The program provides hands-on job experience, teaches essential employment skills, and simulates a real workplace environment.
'All of the interns involved in the program are certified through the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services,' said Nick Lafferty, the Project SEARCH instructor at WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital.
'They've all recently graduated high school, or they're seniors in high school,' Lafferty said. 'They come into our program just like a school year, so they come in at the end of August and we always graduate in May.'
This year's ceremony marked a milestone for the hospital-based internship program.
'This is our fifth class,' Lafferty said. 'We're proud of being here for five years, and we just accepted our interns for our sixth year. We're hoping to keep the momentum rolling and keep the program going even farther.' Graduates enter the graduation ceremony.
Interns complete three rotations in different departments during the program, gaining a wide range of practical job skills.
'If they're in the pharmacy they would do exactly what someone in the pharmacy does,' Lafferty said. 'Some of the interns are experiencing the daycare and the preoperative care where they clean up before and after surgeries.'
Lafferty noted that some past graduates of the program now serve as ambassadors for the hospital.
Interns also receive support in job readiness, including resume writing and interviewing techniques.
'We do resumes with them, they also do between six and 12 interviews while they're with the program,' he said. 'They do two-week notices just like you would at a regular job.' Lafferty
Nicole Biszantz, a graduate of East Fairmont High School and one of the seven interns who completed the program, reflected on her experience.
'I feel like I have a lot more information about the future,' Biszantz said. 'I know how to do stuff that I didn't know how to do when I got out of high school, like make a resume and how to dress for an interview.'
Biszantz said she hopes to find a job and go to college.
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