Denver Health is helping the next generation connect with career opportunities through the Healthcare Interest Program (HIP). HIP supports the academic and professional development needs of its students through a combined approach including mentorship, lectures, and workshops. The program, which offers two credit hours across two semesters, bridges basic science coursework with real world application while advancing students’ awareness of the regional healthcare needs addressed by the Denver Health system.
Denver Health partners with the following academic institutions for the HIP experience: University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and Regis University.
Vision
HIP invests in students who have a connection to the region served by Denver Health. Often, our participants are the first generation in their families to complete post-secondary education and come from similar socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds as the diverse patient population at Denver Health.
In the short-term, the goal of HIP is to increase the number of underrepresented and non-traditional students pursuing healthcare degrees within Colorado. In the long-term, HIP is an investment in the regional healthcare workforce seeking to foster community representation and, ultimately, helping to close the healthcare equity gap.
Please see out Program Guide for detailed information on HIP and its impact.
HIP Academic Year 2022-2023
Applications are now available for the HIP 2022-2023 cohort!
The deadline to apply is Friday, April 8, 2022. Interested students can access the application package at the link below.
Applicant QualificationsApplicants are required to:
- Be currently enrolled as an undergraduate, degree-seeking student at University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, or Regis University
- Have completed a minimum of 15 credit hours at their university
- Meet a minimum GPA of 2.75
- Have at least 10 credit hours outside of HIP planned for their fall/spring semester schedules
- Be in good academic standing for the entire 2022-2023 academic year
- Have successfully completed or are currently enrolled in Biology I, Chemistry I, and one additional science class that directly pertains to their pre-requisites in their degree track
- Agree to -and have the ability to- enroll in the HIP course for both the Fall and Spring semesters
- Have availability in their schedules to attend HIP seminars, which are held on select Friday afternoons from 12:00pm-4:30pm
- Agree to additional internship requirements requested by their university. Please contact your school's internship/programming office for any additional processes required by your school:
- UCD: Trishia Vasquez Trishia.vasquez@ucdenver.edu
- MSU: Annjanette Alejano-Steele alejanos@msudenver.edu
- Regis: Mindy Taylor mtaylor004@regis.edu
HIP 2022-2023 Application Package
Contacts
For all inquiries regarding the Healthcare Interest Program, please contact the Director of HIP, Vicky Rhine, at Vicky.Rhine@dhha.org or 303-602-2819.
Denver Health Staff and Providers: Become a Mentor!
The Healthcare Interest program is accepting new mentors!
Being a HIP mentor can be an incredibly rewarding experience and a great opportunity to honor the mentors who supported you through your career journey. HIP mentors will be assigned to one student for the academic year (August-May) and will be responsible for scheduling 8-10 shadowing hours per month with their mentee. Up to two hours each semester can be reserved for career guidance and advising meetings.
HIP mentors can represent any level of medical practitioner as well as healthcare fields including nursing, pharmacy, public health, dentistry, health admin, and more. All students are at least 18 years of age and have been on-boarded according to DH requirements.
To learn more about how to get involved in HIP, please check out our Engagement Opportunities document, or email Vicky at Vicky.Rhine@dhha.org.