Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (APD), a member of Dartmouth Health, is partnering with Lebanon High School (LHS) and River Valley Community College (RVCC) on LEBMed, a new and innovative healthcare externship program developed by LHS to prepare local students for careers in healthcare.
Through a combination of online coursework provided by RVCC, hands-on-skills training and supervised clinical experience at APD, students will complete the requirements needed to become licensed nursing assistants in New Hampshire. The inaugural cohort has already started their work.
The partnership brings together LHS’ vision for expanding career pathways, RVCC’s educational expertise and APD’s clinical training environment to create a local pipeline for the next generation of healthcare professionals. LEBMed is free for participating students thanks to initial support from the Byrne Foundation. Additional fundraising is currently underway.
“We’re thinking about the longer-term pipeline for these students as well,” said Paula Seaman, MSN, DA, RN, CENP, chief nursing officer at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. “It’s a great workforce development opportunity for APD, and a great opportunity for young students who live here in the Upper Valley to potentially build their career here at our hospital.”
The program combines online instruction provided by RVCC with clinical training at APD. Students complete classroom learning before transitioning to hands-on-skills instruction and supervised clinical rotations, where they gain experience caring for patients in real healthcare settings.
“We are grateful to Emily Forstrom, BSN, RN, MedSurg-BC, and Abby Olivier, BSN, RN, MedSurg-BC, for their leadership, and we’re delighted with the strong support from APD staff who have stepped up to be instructors,” said Seaman.
Organizers hope to expand LEBMed in the future to include additional healthcare career pathways, such as phlebotomy, emergency medical services and radiologic technology. By connecting students with education, clinical training and mentorship opportunities close to home, the program aims to strengthen the region’s healthcare workforce while helping students explore meaningful careers in patient care.
About Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (APD)
Known for highly personalized and high-quality care, APD is the community hospital of the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. Founded in 1932 and a member of Dartmouth Health since 2016, APD’s areas of clinical excellence include surgical services, primary care, geriatric care, sleep health, orthopaedics, and emergency services. The APD campus is also home to a senior living community with assisted and independent living facilities. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.