A local non-profit organization that provides no-cost medical care and education has taken on interns to help support them in their mission. Their mission is simple: to provide access to basic healthcare, education, and support without restrictions and now that mission is being passed down to high school students who decided to lend a helping hand to the TODU Guam Foundation.

Clinical director Dr. Delores Lee gave the details of the CARES Health Internship Program, telling KUAM News, "We wanted to be able to give highschool students the opportunity to learn about our CARES program (Community Approach to Resiliency and Engagement for Students) in the hopes they’re going to be student ambassadors."

The physician added, "The other thing that we do here at TODU Guam, another program that we have is our medical outreach. We want to be able to give them the opportunity to experience everything about it. From what it takes to plan an outreach, what it takes to put it on, the different responsibilities and different jobs involved to be able to deliver that service and care to that population we’re taking care of with outreaches."

Dr. Lee says they also want to give the students experience in the fields of medicine and social work since some of them may have an interest in it. She also shared how closely the interns work with her since they started. "I always believe in getting to know our team, because we’re not just a team, we’re a family here at TODU Guam," she explained.

"We want to be able to know one another, understand what our values are, what our goals are so we can support each other and we took the time to do that, but additionally, they spend time with me and our team in terms of the different things we’re doing."

The interns work so closely with Dr. Lee and the team at TODU Guam that wherever they go, the interns follow and help them out. "When they are able to go to the outreach, they are an active part of that outreach. They are there to provide service. So they help in terms of the check-in, they can help with the patient navigating," she said.

According to lead trainer Ashley Calvo-Rodriguez, the CARES Health Internship Program is a five-week program and will conclude at the end of July. The TODU Guam Foundation hopes that when the internship ends, the students who took part in it will continue to help them out in their outreaches and other events.