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Paid Pathway to Medicine: RCSD Students Complete URMC Summer Internship Program

A student from an RCSD school shows off his work during an internship graduation with URMC

(September 2, 2026) As a new school year gets underway, six Rochester City School District students are walking back into the classroom with paid healthcare experience under their belts thanks to a partnership between the University of Rochester Medicine Department of Surgery and EnCompass.

Catina Arbore from East High School, Nyasia Perez from School Without Walls, Sheresa McCarthy from School of the Arts, Esperanza Tarasuk from School of the Arts, Masud Mohamed from Joseph C. Wilson Commencement Academy, and Justine Lukonde from Padilla High School recently graduated from URMC’s Nex+Gen of Surgery program following a six-week summer internship.

Selected from nearly 60 applicants, the students were part of a 17-member cohort treated as formal URMC employees on the payroll. Over six weeks, participants, matched with surgery departments, received mentorship from surgeons, shadowed in operating rooms, completed hands-on workshops in surgical stitching and spinal surgery, and completed certifications in Stop The Bleed, CPR, and Narcan. The experience culminated in formal research poster presentations at their August graduation.

The summer experience was supported by EnCompass, an after-school provider that supports thousands of RCSD families each year through academic, family-based, and career-readiness programming. Now in its fourth year, the competitive program has expanded significantly from just eight participants in its inaugural class, providing students with direct exposure to healthcare, surgical, and STEM fields.

Beyond the seasonal experience, the Nex+Gen program serves as a long-term workforce pipeline for Rochester area students. URMC offers entry-level positions to all graduating interns, with roughly 60 percent continuing to work for the health system as they advance toward medical school and STEM degrees. Adding to this summer’s excitement, a local film crew documented the cohort’s journey for an upcoming documentary highlighting the program’s impact.

Looking ahead, organizers at URMC and EnCompass plan to build on the momentum of this summer’s cohort. Strategic goals for the partnership include expanding beyond a seasonal internship into year-round programming, creating direct pipelines to entry-level jobs at URMC, and offering broader STEM career pathways for RCSD graduates as they take their next steps toward higher education and healthcare careers.