Military Medical Center ‘VolunTeen’ Program Offers Unique Opportunity

Published July 22, 2014
By Kalila Fleming
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

WALTER REED NATIONAL MILITARY MEDICAL CENTER -- "I've always wanted to volunteer at a hospital ... I want to be an anesthesiologist, so I want to see what it's like actually to live in a hospital, be in a hospital 24/7, do surgeries and get that whole environment down," Nigel Smith, 17, of Bethesda, Maryland, said regarding his VolunTeen position in the Oral and Maxillofacial department at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Smith was one of the 59 high school students selected for this summer's American Red Cross VolunTeen Program at Walter Reed.

The American Red Cross VolunTeen Program is a competitive program, geared towards high school students ages 14 through 18, interested in military medicine or working in a hospital. The program runs for six weeks, July 1 to August 15, and the students will be volunteering anywhere from three to five days per week.

Marin Reynes, senior station manager for the Red Cross at Walter Reed, said that students have to write an essay, and send in a student or coach recommendation letter that is graded and ranked by Cassie Corbyons, the VolunTeen Coordinator.

A vast majority of this year's VolunTeens have a parent or relative in the military; however, that is not a requirement for entrance into the program, Kathleen Kelly, the American Red Cross assistant coordinator at Walter Reed, said.

Once students are selected into the program they all partake in an orientation, "where students who aren't a part of the military culture and aren't a dependent learn what the military is all about," Reynes said.

Students placed in selected departments also get to observe procedures on patients.

Smith, a VolunTeen in the Oral and Maxillofacial department, has witnessed a few surgeries since he began his tenure.

Smith said, "My first surgery was a tiny one. I was watching someone get their wisdom teeth pulled. The second one was a person getting a nose job done, that was pretty interesting ... I saw an implant with anesthesia, that was pretty gross. [The surgeon] taught me a lot about anesthesia." He said, "I learned the basics, and it was a really interesting time, it was four hours watching something like that."

The 59 VolunTeen students are in 36 departments and clinics throughout the medical center. Those clinics and departments range from Executive Medicine and Orthopaedics to the Judge Advocate General Office, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Warrior Transition Brigade.

Kelly added the VolunTeen program has grown exponentially since it was established three years ago. Since Corbyons became the program coordinator last year, she has taken the program to a new level, Kelly continued, and with her efforts, Kelly believes the program will continue thriving.

"This is my third year here, this is my third teen program, and in the last three years it's grown significantly," Kelly said. "Last year when Cassie took over as the volunteer lead, she completely revamped the program, revamped how we do the application process, how we choose the kids. This year was the first year that we had more applicants than we did jobs, so we created the wait list. I have a sneaking suspicion that next year, there are folks that just won't get into the program."

With the growing rate of the program, students shared their stories about how they found out about the VolunTeen program and what advice they would give to other teens that are interested.

Sebastian Renda, 17, of McLean, Virginia, and a VolunTeen in the Executive Medicine Clinic found out after his father, who recently retired from the Army, had surgery at Walter Reed a year ago. He said, "When I was here, I saw the Red Cross people that were helping out and later my dad went and figured out that there was a program I could join over the summer, so I went and signed up."

Rockville, Maryland-native and volunteer in the Executive Medicine department, Darren Danaie, 15, knew that this would be a great opportunity for his future endeavors.

Danaie said, "My mom actually works here [at Walter Reed], in the allergy clinic [and] she saw some of the VolunTeens that went to her clinic, and she thought this would be a good chance."

Smith admitted that, "any person that wants to get into this program for next year, on the application and the essay, actually just show them a little about yourself and don't be shy. Just open up."

Smith added, "Don't just do it for community service hours so you can graduate, [I mean] what's the point in doing it? Just know what you want to do and be confident."

USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)