Each year Arbour Health System welcomes local students into its hospitals as interns where they fulfill various clinical requirements and earn school credits. Students work on units, in PHP’s and other AHS programs, and become part of the staff during their stay.

The experiences are beneficial to both students and employees, as students learn the ins and outs of working in a psy­chiatric hospital, and provide needed services to AHS clinical teams while enhancing pro­gramming.

Of note in 2010, Ar­bour-HRI Hospital was recognized at a Mass. College of Pharmacy and Health Services School of Nursing ap­preciation dinner for hosting the school’s BSN students for their psych clinical rotation. Arbour-HRI was awarded a certificate and a student read her reflection paper on her clinical experience. “My first week of clinical at Arbour-HRI Hos­pital proved to be extremely excit­ing,” the paper read. “The nursing staff at Arbour-HRI really gave us the confidence and independence to approach patients and to have confi­dence in our skills as students.”

Arbour-HRI also hosts nursing stu­dents from Northeastern University. During the past year, three clinical groups have been hosted at Arbour-HRI and the fourth group begins this month, according to Kathy Patoulid­is, Nursing Manager at Arbour-HRI. The students rotate through all four units.They sit in on rounds, which they say is most valuable, they go to groups and are assigned one to two patients each to talk with, do chart reviews and check on their meds,” Patoulidis explained. They also write a journal entry each week about their experience, some of which have been used to inspire small changes in the milieu, she said.

Arbour-HRI also contracts with Boston College, Boston University, Simmons School of Social Work, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP) and Lesley Uni­versity for Master’s level students in its inpatient units and partial pro­grams. Doctoral level MSPP students intern in the GAP program.