Iva is a Hennepin Healthcare volunteer and gets to explore different careers while she's here.
Iva is no stranger to volunteering. She grew up in Belgrade, Serbia where she often did so with her family. When she was 16, she moved to Minneapolis and attended De La Salle High School. In order to fill graduation credits for her senior year, she began volunteering through Hennepin Healthcare and has been with us ever since.
Iva visited Hennepin Healthcare where she was kindly helped through the application and interview process. Her first volunteer role was with Welcome Services desk near the Emergency Department. Doing this, she got to know the hospital really well as her training included lots of walks through the hospital. Iva loved how much she got to meet new people and interact with Hennepin's visitors.
After her first eight weeks, she transitioned to volunteering in the NICU through Hennepin Healthcare's Reach Out and Read program. This was a great fit because Iva expressed that she loved working with kids. During her time here, she supported the staff and families by holding babies and reading books to them to comfort them.
This winter, Iva began volunteering in the Birth Center. Here, she assists families as they leave the hospital and helps nurses and healthcare assistants with their tasks including keeping rooms stocked with supplies, making sure areas are sanitized and other small tasks to help their day go smoother. Iva has also started making hats for the newborn babies which she finds is a rewarding way to interact with different patients.
When she was younger, Iva dreamed of becoming a doctor and is proud to now be studying biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. Iva has found volunteering at Hennepin Healthcare to be a great low-stress activity outside of class. She shared that the volunteer program has been flexible and supportive of her needs outside the hospital, allowing her to thrive in both her studies and her volunteer work. As she looks to her future, she wants to work in the medical field but isn't exactly sure in what capacity yet. Luckily, while volunteering, Iva gets to interact with many nurses and doctors which gives her insight into what career paths she is interested in and which may not be for her. As she continues to volunteer here, Iva hopes to see different positions work more closely and even shadow physicians.
