Whitney’s Story - A Chance to Give Back
When Whitney Soldier took a five-month health care aide certificate on course at Red River College in Winnipeg, she had a bit of an advantage. Soldier had participated in the Indigenous Health High School Internship Program where she’d job shadowed nurses and health care aides and had picked up quite a bit of medical terminology. “Some of the stuff they were teaching me was like a review because I already knew it,” she says.
The internship program not only helped her in college, it also helped prepare her to enter the workplace. Soldier started out doing home care and then worked at the Pembina Manitou Health Centre for a year before moving to a position as a health care aide at Lorne Memorial Hospital, Southern Health-Santé Sud. “I am happy where I am because I love the people I work with and it’s great to work in a community where you grew up knowing the people,” she says. “The ability to be able to give back by working at the hospital is a great feeling.”
Soldier is following in the footsteps of her grandma and mother as the third generation of certified care aides in the family. Although this definitely influenced her decision, she says the internship program helped prepare her for her career. “The program gave me the opportunity to see what it was like to work in health care,” she says. “It matured me a lot, and gave me more confidence in myself entering school and also the workforce.”
Clarisse Mousseau – a role model for many
A high school student from Isaac Beaulieu Memorial School in Sandy Bay First Nation, Clarisse Mousseau (pictured centre) saw much success with the Program as she gained experience in working in Health Records, as an Administrative Assistant and finally as the Junior Leader for the Indigenous Health High School Internship Program. Clarisse shares, “There are not many programs out there that educate people about a field of work and I am glad that Southern Health-Santé Sud puts up this program for the young students. It pushes us in a good direction because most of us don’t know what we want to do yet or where to even start. If this program could go worldwide and cover even more career field, that would be incredible! We could make a better future for everyone.”
