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Fulfill Patient Care Hours

When a course of study as a medical or nursing student requires a certain number of on-the-job hours, finding meaningful work opportunities can sometimes be challenging.

Some healthcare facilities lack the capacity or level of supervision needed for such experiential programs, while others are so focused on serving clients they haven’t had time to formalize such opportunities.

That’s where ACR Homes and its paid internships — in programs of study including nursing, physician’s assistant training and pre-med — can be invaluable. As our interns gain meaningful hands-on experience working with people with disabilities, they can also accrue the working hours necessary to fulfill their current medical training program or their application for the next part of their training. Not only can they benefit from mentorships, seminars and self-initiated research projects that are customized to their interests, but they'll also be compensated financially for their hard work. That kind of win-win scenario can be a rare find in today’s post-secondary environment.

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“The skills I learned at ACR really gave me an advantage over many classmates in medical school. (One skill) was learning how to communicate better, with not just the residents but also my co-workers. This has translated well into medical school, because communication is key as a physician.”

- Cory M., medical student at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

“You get to list 15 involvements in the activities section of your med school application. From my work at ACR I was able to include being a direct care professional, an intern, an on-campus recruiter and a mentor — all great experiences.”

- University of Minnesota medical student Madison Duppenthaler

“I believe the main reason I was accepted into this graduate program is because of my invaluable time as a direct care professional and my pre-PA internship with ACR Homes. I was asked about my ACR internship in many of my PA interviews; they were all impressed ACR Homes gives the opportunity to its employees to become better future healthcare providers.”

- Olivia Schultz, student in PA program

Some additional benefits offered by ACR Homes:

Customized research projects.

ACR interns may design and implement studies according to their areas of interest; the resulting research can be added to their portfolios. Bruce Simat, a professor of biochemistry and human physiology at Northwestern University in Arden Hills, Minnesota recently told ACR he credits such ACR experiences with helping many of his students earn spots in competitive professional medical programs

Seminars.

Typically offered at least weekly at ACR, these group discussions led by ACR CEO Jim Nelson may lead to personal letters of recommendation for students. That extra training can be invaluable when added to post-graduate applications. For example, a recent ACR blog outlined how former ACR employees were able to leverage their ACR experience to gain five of 27 slots in a PA program at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Networking events.

ACR frequently stages activities through which students and alumni can talk to other licensed medical professionals about the nature of their work. “There’s an army surrounding each (ACR resident), and this job helped me learn to communicate with that network of people,” notes Lauren, an occupational therapy grad who works as an ACR direct care professional. "I feel 1,000% more prepared for my field.”

Presentations.

Interns may boost their public speaking skills by presenting to co-workers at staff meetings and/or seminars. "I don’t know of any other job that allows young employees to take on that much responsibility and get that much hands-on work experience,” the mother of an ACR employee recently said of her daughter's overall experience. “Having ACR on her resume will be a great career move for grad school applications."

Field trips. 

Interns benefit from periodical guided field trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Study materials.

ACR interns studying for MCAT, GRE and NCLEX testing may access company-provided study materials free of charge.

Facebook groups.

Students employed by ACR may access (and network through) ACR Facebook groups designed to assist those striving to become physicians, physician’s assistants, occupational therapists, physical therapists or RNs.

Want more details? Contact ACR to learn how you can fulfill your patient care hours and prepare for PA or medical school at the same time.