Postbaccalaureate Clinical Intern/Direct Service Professional

Health disparities and an inadequately trained health care workforce prevent the full inclusion of individuals with disabilities into society. The unprecedented rate of autistic persons and persons with intellectual/ developmental disabilities (IDD) aging into adult services makes the training of health care professionals an immediate and critical need. Modeled after Teach for America, Pathways to Inclusive Health Care (PIHC) is a mission-driven program that creates a pipeline of health care professionals who will be motivated and equipped to provide quality healthcare to neurodiverse populations.

The PIHC program is housed at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at UMass CHAN Medical School, a pioneer in IDD-related research, training, and service for fifty years. Targeting pre-medical, dental, nurse practitioner, and other pre-health professions students, recent college graduates (called ‘Interns’) participate in a nine-month-long program that features the following elements:

• Interns work as clinical support staff 4 days/week with autistic persons and persons with IDD in practicum sites such as day habilitation and community-based day support programs. (A workday is 7 hours.)
• Interprofessional training and shadowing of health care professionals are integral to the PIHC program. PIHC Interns  on premed tracks have counted their PIHC experience towards med school application prerequisites.
• Interns attend weekly seminars presented by EK Shriver Center faculty, participate in discussions with self-advocates, and visit community-based programs that serve autistic persons and persons with IDD. Interdisciplinary didactics, health equity seminars, reflection and mentoring occur on Friday.
• Benefited position offers $20.00 /hour.
• will receive a certificate in Disability Studies from the UMass Chan Medical School upon completion of the program.