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Employee Spotlight: Shodair Unit Assistants
May 17, 2024Training the Next Generation
For decades, Shodair has proudly embedded ourselves in the Montana community. From caring for the state’s most vulnerable citizens to creating a rallying point for key leaders in the community, Shodair has worked endlessly to support, educate, and advocate on behalf of Montana families seeking mental health care.
And while we continue to make strides in this effort, the true catalyst of change can often be found in those who come behind us – in those we are bringing up. Shodair Children’s Hospital isn’t just creating hope in the lives of patients, we’re creating a learning ground and carving out hope for the next generation of students and health care professionals.
The generation that will move us forward.
“Since 2020, we’ve continued to see bigger and more pronounced mental health behaviors younger and earlier in life. As a result, we have to also begin to ask ourselves how we can better adapt our education and prepare therapists to go practice at any level of care. And that’s what our internship program is designed to do – to prepare health care students for the future.”
On any given day and in any given department, it’s not unusual to find one to two interns popping in and out of Shodair. From shadowing clinical staff and learning about therapeutic activities (the foundation of most first-year internships) to performing rounds, monitoring patients, and carrying individual caseloads, Shodair’s internship program places a high priority on fully integrating students into its multidisciplinary team. As the only mental health hospital in the state offering acute and residential care under one roof, Shodair interns are provided with the unique opportunity of getting hands-on experience in every aspect of the mental health field – not just therapy. From working with children in immediate crisis to providing long-term care for families in one of Shodair’s residential, outpatient, or school-based programs, students find themselves not only meeting their education requirements throughout their internship years, but far exceeding them.
“The exposure to mental health issues and diagnoses can often be very small at other internship sites,” explains German. “But because Shodair has the privilege of serving some of the most in-need kids in the state, we’re able to prepare interns for what they’ll see out in the real world – and that really enables students to both understand the system as a whole and better identify what area they’d like to provide care in.”
Despite their attendance three days a week, interns aren’t the only ones learning throughout this process. Also unique to Shodair’s internship programs is its emphasis on creating vulnerable environments that lead to a safe and open, give-and-take culture. Like all Shodair employees and patients, interns are quickly integrated into the Sanctuary Model – an intentional model of trauma-informed care that doesn’t just treat adversity, but chooses to walk through it with both practice and heart. With this universal language as their foundation, interns are given the freedom to be curious, ask questions, challenge the system, and even make mistakes. And on the flip side, clinical and administrative staff are also given the freedom to explore new programs, have hard conversations, and yes, even learn from those they’re teaching. It’s this environment of openness and hope-filled learning that really sets Shodair apart as an internship site and continues to empower Montana’s next generation of mental health professionals.
“We love interns here!” exclaims German. “What we’re doing now is training health professionals of the future and we have a responsibility and obligation to do that right. Being in a teaching environment not only adds a lot of value to our organization, but it also adds a lot of value to our community. And at the end of the day, it’s all about the kids!”
Apply to be an Intern
Shodair provides ongoing education and development for students through various internship programs across departments. In addition to acute and residential units based out of Helena, MT, Shodair offers learning opportunities throughout the state at our outpatient clinics and school-based services – each program customized to meet the needs of the student. To learn more about Shodair’s culture and potential internship opportunities in your discipline, visit shodair.org or fill out an internship application.
