It takes more than nurses and doctors to run a hospital, and some area teens are getting a taste of what it’s like behind the scenes at King’s Daughters Medical Center.

     The Junior Volunteer Program is an eight-week summer program for teens age 15 and up. Human Resources Director Celine Craig said the program gives teens a chance to see the hospital’s daily routine.

     “It gives them a picture of what health care is like,” she said. “It gives them a taste of the real world.”

     To get into the program, teens have to do what anyone looking for a job does. There’s an application, interviews and an orientation where Craig teaches them about proper dress, being on time and professional etiquette.

     “I’m teaching them the work ethics I expect of our employees,” she said. “[It gives them] a better chance of … getting the job they want than someone who has not had that experience.”

     This summer, Craig has some 30 junior volunteers who work in all aspects of the hospital, including therapy, the clinic, ER registration, labor and delivery, the business office and housekeeping.

     Craig said most of the teens work a few days a week, though some work every day. There are two shifts, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., and 1 – 5 p.m.

     How many hours each teen gets depends on their own schedule. They tell Craig when they want to work and she gets them on the schedule.

     Their reasons for volunteering are as varied as their hours.

     “Some kids do it because they want to work in the medical field,” she said. “Some do it for volunteers hours for Mississippi Scholars or something else.”

     Garrett Smith, a 16-year-old upcoming junior at Brookhaven Academy, said he decided to become a junior volunteer because he likes helping the community.

     “I like seeing what the hospital goes through every day and the process of what’s going on,” he said. “There’s a lot behind it, besides just nurses and doctors, that most people don’t see.”

     Smith said he spends at least three days a week filing medical records and entering patient information into the computers.

     Most volunteers do clerical work, regardless of what department they are in, because they aren’t allowed patient care access, according to Craig. But that doesn’t mean they’re not trying to learn as much as they can.

     Wesley Mohon is only 16, but he already knows he wants to go into physical fitness and training after he graduates. He volunteers in the therapy program at the KDMC Fitness Center.

     Although he doesn’t get to do any hands-on therapy, Mohon said he is still learning a lot.

     “It’s fun,” he said. “I get to see what possibilities are out there for [my] career and I get to help out the hospital.”

     Mohon said he was considering being a junior volunteer again next summer, and Craig said the program has some repeats every year.

     Sometimes they want to do the same thing and other times they want to learn something new. Either way, both the teens and the hospital benefit from their work.

     “The volunteer assistance lets us ‘move’ work a little quicker sometimes,” Craig said. “And they have the opportunity to be a part of making a difference for others.”