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.
Summer Teen Volunteer Program
The application for the 2024 summer program is now closed.
The application for the 2025 summer will open in mid-January 2025. Please check again in mid-January 2025 to receive information about the application for the Summer Teen Volunteer Program for the 2025 summer. If you would like to receive communication regarding our teen programs, please email Volunteer Relations Specialist Melissa Mahon.
The 2025 Summer Teen Volunteer Program is open to Arizona students who will be a sophomore, junior or senior in high school during the 2025–26 school year. Current seniors should not apply. High school seniors who will be 18 years old by June 1, 2025, may complete the adult volunteer application starting Wednesday, May 1.
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.
Explorers Clubs
The application for the 2024-25 academic year will open at the end of May 2024.
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.
The application for the 2023-24 academic year is now closed. Please check again mid-May 2024 to receive information about the application for the 2024–25 Explorers Club. If you would like to receive additional communication regarding our teen programs, please email Melissa Mahon, volunteer relations specialist, at memahon@honorhealth.com.
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 brains with a neurologist.
- 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 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.
If you would like to receive additional communication regarding our teen club programs, please email Melissa Mahon, volunteer relations specialist, at memahon@honorhealth.com.
