Children's Hospital Colorado

The Medical Career Collaborative Program

View of Children's Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs with the mountains in the background
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The Medical Career Collaborative (MC²) is a health careers pathway program designed to provide high school students with the opportunity to gain experience and exposure to the world of healthcare and access ongoing support in their pursuit of healthcare professions. 

From paid internships and mentorship to certification opportunities and career coaching, MC² broadens students’ horizons and builds a strong foundation for a future career in healthcare. Many graduates of MC² have gone on to work as nurses, doctors, researchers, laboratory scientists, public health professionals, medical interpreters, technicians and more. 

“I think MC2 has shaped the path for my future.”
– Awah

What to expect in the program

Accepted students begin their journey with MC2 as high school juniors with programming taking place during students’ junior and senior years and beyond.  Programming activities include:

  • Field trips, workshops and trainings: High school juniors and seniors participate in monthly field trips, workshops and trainings to learn about the variety of fields within healthcare, build their skills towards a career in health or medicine and earn mini health-related certifications.
  • Internships: Juniors complete a 100-120 hour paid internship at Children’s Colorado or Denver Health. Students are placed in a department within one of the hospital systems and are paired with hospital staff to gain valuable hands-on experience working in the field.
  • Mentoring: Each student is matched with a mentor(s) at Children’s Colorado or Denver Health. They work alongside their mentor and learn from them throughout the internship component of the program. Mentors represent a wide variety of healthcare professions and may include those working as CNAs, technicians, nurses, paramedics, therapists, physicians and more.
  • Seminars: Throughout the internship, students participate in weekly seminar sessions facilitated by MC2 staff, where students share about their internship experiences, discuss topics important to healthcare and learn medical terminology.
  • Post-secondary assistance and guidance: Seniors receive assistance with their goals toward post-secondary education.  Students are supported in searching for schools and programs, learning about financial aid, searching for scholarships, gathering letters of recommendation and writing college and scholarship essays.
  • Access to ongoing professional support: As students graduate from high school and become alumni of the MC2 program, they’ll have access to career coaching and assistance, healthcare-related certification programs, and professional development and networking opportunities.

Learn more from our MC2 Program Roadmap (pdf).

How to apply

MC² is offered at Denver Health and several Children’s Hospital Colorado locations, including Anschutz Medical Campus (Aurora), North Campus (Broomfield), South Campus (Highlands Ranch) and Colorado Springs. Applicants only need to fill out one application to be considered for any of the MC² program site locations.

Applicants must be current high school sophomores at the time of application who attend school in the Denver metro or Colorado Springs areas. If accepted, students begin the program at the start of their junior year.

In an effort to build a workforce that better represents the communities served in healthcare, MC² focuses on recruiting students from groups that are underrepresented in the healthcare industry.

Students are chosen by a committee that reviews all the applications. The selection committee takes the following into consideration when selecting participants for the program:

  • Student essays
  • School activities
  • Community involvement
  • Student need 
  • A recommendation
  • GPA

Applications are accepted on an annual basis at the beginning of the year. The 2025-2026 application window opens on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at 8 a.m. MST. All applications must be completed by Wednesday, March 5, 2025 at 5 p.m. MST. You can apply for the program here.

Informational forums will be available during the application window to learn more about the program and the application process: 

“As an MC2 student, I was able to experience a field I would have never gotten the opportunity to experience, and now I get the opportunity to be a part of that field and help change people’s lives.”
Mayra, family nurse practitioner at Children’s Colorado

Frequently asked questions

Applying

General program information

Internships

Contact information

Please contact us by email with additional questions.