Health Advocate Student Intern

Legacy Community Health•Houston, TX

About The Position

Legacy Community Health is seeking Student Interns who are ready to make a meaningful impact in the lives and communities in the Greater Houston area. We have internship opportunities at several of our Houston area clinic locations. As a Health Advocate Student Intern you will screen patients for appropriate access to food, transportation, housing, and financial support to support positive health outcomes. About Legacy Community Health: As the largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Southeast Texas, Legacy Community Health has been delivering comprehensive, high-quality, and affordable health care for nearly 40 years. With more than 50 clinics across the Greater Houston and Gulf Coast region, we continue to grow strategically and invest in our communities. By innovating how care is delivered, we've stayed at the forefront of connecting our communities to health—every day, in every way. What Health Advocates Give: Minimum 8 hours/week at Legacy Community Health (Multiple Locations) Attend mandatory orientation May 31st-April 2nd, 8am-5pm Commitment for an entire full-length school semester What Health Advocates Get: Experience working directly with patients and clinicians Understanding of impact of unmet social needs on health Knowledge of Houston’s health care and resource landscape Health Advocate Student Interns Responsibilities: Legacy Community Health believes that motivated Health Advocates make real changes for our patients' families and our country’s health care system. We seek passionate, diverse, committed, social justice-minded advocates to join our movement that ensures patients’ cohesive wellness, both medically and socially. As members of a volunteer community, Advocates continuously reflect on this work and develop their skills, themselves, and their team to create a lasting impact in health care and their clinic communities. Our program provides learning opportunities and practical field experience for individuals interested in working in the non-profit or health sectors. Coupled with Legacy’s training curriculum, this hands on experience ensures that Advocates gain a strong understanding of Houston’s health and resource landscape as well as the concrete skills needed to effectively interact with patients and clinicians from diverse backgrounds. Working side by side with seasoned health care and non-profit professionals, Advocates gain a unique perspective on the healthcare system while helping change it for the better. Legacy will gladly provide references for dedicated advocates who successfully complete program requirements.

Requirements

Minimum 8 hours/week at Legacy Community Health (Multiple Locations)
Attend mandatory orientation May 31st-April 2nd, 8am-5pm
Commitment for an entire full-length school semester

Responsibilities

Work with a caseload of clients professionally and effectively
Provide timely and enthusiastic participation in a minimum of 8 hours at a clinic per week. Time will consist of new patient contacts, follow-ups to ensure service linkage, and weekly supervision and support sessions with staff leaders
Hold engaging conversations with families that elicit information needed to meet their resource goals
Document all work being done with families to provide the greatest possible continuity of care
Connect families to services located in their community
Understand and follow Legacy Community Health’s scope of services as well as external resources that address social needs
Tenaciously use the tools available to you to find the best possible service(s) for the family you are serving
Identify, investigate, and assign services in concert with families, and create effective plans for those connections
Demonstrate professional and values-aligned communication when following up with families on the plans made to connect them to services at least once every 7 to 10 days until the client’s case has been closed
Use experience to reflect and grow as a healthcare leader
Actively participate in training and supervision sessions
Engage in feedback with peer and staff leaders to improve personal, team, and organization performance
Develop skills in project management, communication, and cultural awareness through team training and dialogue
Acquire skills in data, people, and systems management through use of Health Leads tools and trainings
Be an ambassador for Legacy Community Health with several different constituencies
Understand the work of Legacy and communicate it in an accessible way to your patients
Have healthy communication with your clinic community; i.e. providers, medical assistants, and administrative staff
Be a representative for Legacy in their clinic community by being knowledgeable about and living Legacy’s values