Rehabilitation Health Career Opportunity Program | NYU Langone Health

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Rusk Rehabilitation Education Rehabilitation Health Career Opportunity Program

Rehabilitation Health Career Opportunity Program

The Health Career Opportunity Program at NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation offers candidates with minimal clinical experience the opportunity to explore a variety of health professions.

Available to college students, recent college graduates, and high school seniors who are at least 18 years old, this free program consists of three internship sessions that are each four weeks long. Participants are provided with relative hands-on, observational clinical experience in a variety of health fields.

Founded by Howard A. Rusk, MD, and sponsored by the Wallace Foundation, the program has graduated more than 5,700 students in its 50-year history.

Internship Training and Schedule

As a student in our program, you are assigned to a single specialty for a full four-week session. Participation is entirely voluntary, and interns do not receive a salary or stipend.

Internships take place Monday through Friday at Tisch Hospital, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, NYU Langone Orthopedic Center, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, or NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Center East 38th Street. All group activities take place in Tisch Hospital.

Each of the three internship sessions opens on the first day with a general orientation, during which you receive an overview of the program. Details regarding your responsibilities and dress code as interns at NYU Langone, as well as information about Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, fire safety, and the hospital’s code of conduct, are provided after you are accepted.

During orientation, you also receive a program jacket and a photo ID badge. If applicable, you may also receive scrubs or a lab coat. You must return all apparel and your photo ID badge on the last day of your session.

You can expect to start the day between 8:00AM and 9:00AM—but some departments expect students to arrive earlier—and end the day at 4:00PM. You spend most of the day observing healthcare professionals and the roles they play in your assigned specialty. Each day at 3:00PM you join your fellow interns for one-hour lectures about the various branches of rehabilitation medicine and health professions and seminars given by Princeton Review. There are also weekly conferences during which interns are invited to discuss medical ethics and the obstacles faced by people with mobility issues.

2024 Internship Schedules and Specialties

The 2024 internship schedules are as follows:

  • Session One: Monday, May 20–Friday, June 14, 2024
  • Session Two: Monday, June 17–Friday, July 12, 2024
  • Session Three: Monday, July 15–Friday, August 9, 2024
  • Sessions One and Two (for research only): Monday, May 20–Friday, July 12, 2024
  • Sessions Two and Three (for research and emergency medicine only): Monday, June 17–Friday, August 9, 2024

The number of internship specialties that students participate in changes every year. After completing each session, you take a final exam that tests your knowledge of material covered in group meetings, lectures, and discussions. Students who pass the final exam receive a personalized signed certificate displaying their name and the number of hours of observation and instruction they completed at NYU Langone.
Depending on your academic institution, it may be possible to receive school credit for participating in our program. Please check with your school’s administrator.

Internship Housing

Interns who are accepted into the program receive information on how to apply for Summer Housing at NYU, which is available for all three internship sessions. We typically reserve a floor in an NYU dorm. To ensure you secure a spot and improve your chances of being placed with another intern participating in the Health Career Program, we encourage you to apply for housing as soon as you are accepted.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about the program, email us at HCOP@NYULangone.org.

Internship Training and Schedule

As a student in our program, you are assigned to a single specialty for each full four-week session. Participation is entirely voluntary, and interns do not receive a salary or stipend.

Internships take place Monday through Friday at Tisch Hospital, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, NYU Langone Orthopedic Center, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, or NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Center East 38th Street. All group activities take place at Tisch Hospital.

Each of the three internship sessions opens with orientation at 8:00AM on the first day, during which you receive an overview of the program as well as details on general responsibilities, dress code, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, fire safety, and the hospital’s code of conduct. During orientation, you also receive a program jacket and a photo identification card. If applicable, you may also receive scrubs or a lab coat. You must return all apparel and your photo identification card on the last day of each session.

You can expect to start the day between 8:00AM and 9:00AM, depending on your department, and end the day at 4:00PM. You spend most of the day observing healthcare professionals and the roles they play in your assigned specialty. Each day at 3:00PM, you join your fellow interns for a one-hour lecture about rehabilitation medicine and hospital care. There are also weekly conferences during which interns are invited to discuss medical ethics and the different types of obstacles that people with mobility issues face.

The 2023 internship schedules are as follows:

Session One: Monday, May 22–Friday, June 16, 2023
Session Two: Monday, June 19–Friday, July 14, 2023
Session Three: Monday, July 17–Friday, August 11, 2023
Session One and Two (for research only): Monday, May 22–Friday, July 14, 2023
Session Two and Three (for Research and Emergency Medicine only): Monday, June 19–Friday, August 11, 2023

The number of internship specialties that students participate in changes every year. After completing each session, you take a final exam that tests your knowledge of material covered in group meetings, lectures, and discussions. Students who pass the final exam receive a signed certificate displaying their name and completion of 140 hours of observation and instruction at NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation.

Depending on your academic institution, it may be possible to receive school credit for participating in our program. Please check with your school’s administrator.

Internship Housing

Interns who are accepted into the program receive information on how to apply for summer housing at NYU, which is available for all three internship sessions. We typically reserve a floor in an NYU dorm. To ensure you secure a spot and improve your chances of being placed with another intern participating in the Health Career Opportunity Program, we encourage you to apply for housing as soon as you are accepted. During orientation, we also provide interns who plan to commute with travel information.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about the program, email us at HCOP@NYULangone.org. Although email is strongly preferred, you can also call 212-263-6496.