HonorHealth teen volunteer opportunities
HonorHealth’s teen programs provide high school students with valuable opportunities to engage with their local community while gaining an understanding of the healthcare industry. Summer volunteers work directly with patients, families, guests and team members. Explorer Club teens interact with a variety of healthcare professionals and have hands-on activities as they are introduced to health professions.
HonorHealth is seeking teens who are kind, mature and able to provide excellent customer service. Prior to applying, teens are asked to carefully consider the required time commitment. Neither program includes job shadowing, research or internship opportunities. Teens in our program fill a variety of volunteer roles, focused on providing our patients and their families with an extra layer of care and comfort while at HonorHealth.
Explorers Clubs
The application for the 2025-26 academic year is now open.
The application deadline is Tuesday, June 17 at noon. Late applications will not be considered. To apply, review and complete the shared application for the Medical Explorers Club and the Nursing Explorers Club. Within the application, you'll select which club you are applying to. Students can only be selected for one club.
HonorHealth Explorers Clubs are student-run and expose students who are interested in healthcare careers to a variety of hands-on events, learning opportunities and chances to interact with healthcare professionals. Meetings are held once per month and teens must be in high school, grades 9-12 during the academic year, to participate.
We have two types of Explorers Clubs: Medical and Nursing. Students will only be accepted into one club.
Medical Explorers Club
The Medical Explorers Club covers a wide variety of healthcare professions and is offered at HonorHealth Thompson Peak, Deer Valley and John C. Lincoln Medical Centers. The club exposes students to hands-on events, learning opportunities and the chance to interact with healthcare professionals from multiple disciplines.
Each meeting is built upon club members’ interests and involves:
- Speaking with nurses, physicians and other professionals about medical education and career paths.
- Visiting departments within our medical centers.
- Hands-on learning activities.
In past club meetings, students have:
- Dissected sheep hearts with a cardiologist.
- Sutured bananas with an emergency department physician assistant.
- Wrapped casts with an orthopedic surgeon.
- Learned how to prepare for surgery with an HonorHealth physician.
- Received advice about preparing for medical school.
Nursing Explorers Club
The Nursing Explorers Club focuses on the diverse careers within the nursing profession and is located at the HonorHealth Center of Clinical Excellence near Deer Valley Medical Center. Club meetings are run similarly to the Medical Explorers Club, but activities and speakers focus on nursing.
Example activities:
- Learn to insert an IV with a med-surg nurse.
- Read blood pressure with an ICU nurse.
- Dissect a pig heart with a respiratory therapist.
- Receive advice about how to prepare for nursing school from nurse educators around the Valley.
For new applicants, there is a non-refundable club membership of $55 per year. For renewal applicants, there is a non-refundable club membership of $45 per year. Financial aid is available.
Due to the hands-on nature of the clubs, space is limited at each campus. Detailed, completed applications are strongly encouraged.
Summer Teen Volunteer Program
The application for the 2025 summer program is now closed.
The application for the 2026 Summer Teen Volunteer Program will open in mid-Jan. 2026. Please check back at that time for application information.
This program is open to Arizona students who will be a sophomore, junior or senior in high school during the 2026–27 school year. Current high school seniors should not apply. However, seniors who will be 18 years old by June 1, 2026, may apply to the adult volunteer program starting Wednesday, May 1, 2026.
Time commitment
The program is a seven-week session running through June and July, and requires a commitment of two (2) four-hour shifts each week, with a minimum of six weeks of participation. If a teen misses three or more shifts during the seven-week session, they may be removed from the program. Volunteer shifts are available between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Examples of volunteer duties
Our teen volunteers perform a variety of duties in our medical centers and at Desert Mission Food Bank. Teens will interact with HonorHealth team members, patients and family members. This experience allows them to improve communication skills and build confidence while giving back to the community.
Below are examples of volunteer titles and duties:
- Information Desk volunteer: Greet visitors and patients arriving for care, escort family members to visit patients, support administration as needed and respond to guest questions.
- Supply Chain volunteer: Deliver supplies to nursing units and various areas of the medical center, assist with stocking materials and log data into a computer.
- Surgery Waiting volunteer: Greet patients arriving for surgery, support families in the surgery waiting area and work with team members in perioperative services.
- Desert Mission Food Bank volunteer: Sort donated food, organize the warehouse and fill grocery carts to distribute to families and individuals.
Upon acceptance to the summer program, volunteer placement will be based on the needs of the campus.
Please note, there are no positions that perform direct patient care. Teens are not permitted in patient rooms to assist medical professionals due to confidentiality regulations. HonorHealth does not offer shadowing opportunities. Teens will focus on customer service, supporting patients and their families, and assisting team members.
Education opportunities through M.E.D. sessions
In addition to volunteering, summer participants take part in Meet. Explore. Discover. (M.E.D.) sessions, which provide healthcare-related education and career exploration. There are more than 20 M.E.D. sessions, focused on career exploration through conversations with physicians, researchers and clinical staff, and tours of our facilities.
Examples of previous M.E.D. sessions include: “Tour of the Sterile Processing Department”, “Exam of Forensic Nursing”, “Discussion of Pediatric Care” and “Tour of a Trauma Facility”. Teens accepted into the summer program will learn more about these education opportunities during the onboarding process.
If you would like to receive additional communication regarding our teen club programs, please email Volunteer Supervisor Sai Powers.
