at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Project SEARCH at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is a unique, business-led, one-year school-to-work program that takes place entirely at the workplace. Total workplace immersion facilitates a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and hands-on training through worksite rotations. The primary goal of the program is for each young adult to build skills that will lead towards competitive employment.

About the program

Founded in 1996 at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Project SEARCH is an international program and has over 600 host sites around the world. Since 2011, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center has been a host site for Project SEARCH, with 50+ individuals successfully completing the program.

Through a series of three 10-week targeted internships, the students acquire competitive, marketable and transferable skills which enable them to apply for related positions. During this time students also work on their soft skills such as; communication, teamwork and problem-solving that are important for their overall development as an employee. Although there is a classroom component with a formal curriculum, interns spend the majority of their time building employment skills in an internship at the hospital.

Contact Us

Project SEARCH at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

603-650-6439
Email: Project.SEARCH@hitchcock.org

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
One Medical Center Drive
Lebanon, NH 03756

Project SEARCH Collaborating Partners

Curriculum

Across the year, participants work on employability and functional skills for approximately one and a half hours of their day. Training room activities are focused on: team building, workplace safety, technology, self-advocacy, financial literacy, health and wellness, and preparing for employment.

Sampling of Internships at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

  • Blood Donor Program
  • Central Sterile Reprocessing
  • Housekeeping
  • Waste & Recycling
  • Inpatient Dietary
  • Gastroenterology
  • Food & Nutrition Services
  • General Pediatrics
  • Ophthalmology
  • Linens
  • Transportation
  • Warehouse

Eligibility

Project SEARCH serves young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Participants are typically on an Individual Education Plan in their last year of eligibility for high school. The Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center program also serves young adults who are beyond school age; up to the age of 26. The most important criteria for acceptance into Project SEARCH is the desire to achieve competitive employment.

Application

Questions?