Training the Next Generation of Healthcare Professionals at DFCI
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) knows that supporting the local Boston community is a win-win for employers and residents alike—it’s built into the fabric of their workforce development strategy. A longtime partner of the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), DFCI’s robust high school internship program has successfully prepared and trained the next generation of healthcare professionals for years. Throughout DFCI’s student training initiatives, including the PIC internship program, 90 alumni have returned to DFCI for employment opportunities.
Fernando Medina in the lab at Dana-Farber.
DFCI’s long-term workforce development strategy aims to develop talent from the earliest moments of their career journey to qualified, full-time employees. “We are very intentional about workforce development, about moving individuals through the process of exploration, including job and career readiness skills, to ultimately employment,” says Candace Burns, Director of Workforce Development. “It’s important that we invest in our future, especially in our local Boston residents to ensure that we reduce barriers so that they have access to opportunities like this internship program.”
With support from the PIC, DFCI offers paid internships for Boston public high school students throughout the summer and the school year. PIC Career Specialists work closely with BPS students to prepare them for the application and interview process and provide support as students progress through the program. In summer 2025, nearly 50 BPS students participated in the 7-week summer program, interning in a wide variety of departments, from thoracic oncology and cancer immunology to marketing communications and human resources. In addition to gaining hands-on work experience, DFCI also offers additional job readiness programming, including networking opportunities, mentorship from college interns, and professional skills workshops.
Fernando Medina (right) with his supervisor Mona Li, Senior Clinical Research Manager.
The combination of work experience and job readiness programing provides students with a greater understanding about the range of roles in healthcare—and how to get there. “We’re hoping that the students will be exposed to different players in healthcare, besides nurses and doctors, and open their eyes to a variety of options whether it’s IT or finance,” says Rachada Hiranyaket, Workforce Development Program Manager. “Beyond expanding their network, we also want students to develop professional skills, like how to present themselves in the workplace and show up on time, so that they can apply these job skills when they go back to school, back home, and within their communities.”
Throughout the year, the PIC Employer Engagement Manager for Healthcare works closely with DFCI to ensure that internships are meaningful experiences for supervisors and advisors alike. Working with PIC Career Specialists embedded in BPS high schools, the Employer Engagement team recruits and matches student candidates with internship opportunities. PIC Career Specialists prepare students for the application process by helping with resumes and holding mock interviews, and their support continues throughout the internship experience.
Growing up in the Mission Hill neighborhood, Fernando Medina knows firsthand about the impact of the Boston hospitals on the local community. In middle school, a workshop hosted by a local hospital sparked his interest in healthcare. During his time as a student at Fenway High School, he connected with his PIC Career Specialist to land internships at three major Boston hospitals: Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and DFCI. Through his internships, Medina was able to explore numerous departments and specialties in healthcare, where he discovered a passion for psychology. Now a junior at Northeastern, he studies psychology and returned to DFCI as an intern in the Stem Cell Transplant Department.
From left to right: Candace Burns, Fernando Medina, Rachada Hiranyaket.
In addition to narrowing his focus within the healthcare sector, Medina credits his internships with teaching him critical professional skills. “A major skill I learned while working at Dana-Farber is how to dress—it’s a small detail, but it does really matter how to dress yourself,” he says. “We’re such visual creatures, so when you look in a mirror and you see yourself put together, you get into the mindset for work.” As a college intern, Medina is now a mentor for high school students, sharing his knowledge and experiences in topics from professionalism to managing finances.
Medina emphasizes that his time at DFCI offered the experience and knowledge to pursue his dream of becoming a psychologist. He hopes that more BPS students have the opportunity to participate in internships, saying, “This is why internships matter. They open doors and give access to students who may not have the connections in these fields, but who have the drive, the passion, and the grit to make a difference.”
Photos by Samantha Barracca.
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