Investing in Our Future Workforce: Celebrating the 2026 Carilion Clinic Summer Internship Program

As Carilion Clinic continues to prepare for the workforce needs of the future, creating meaningful opportunities for students to experience healthcare careers firsthand is an important part of building a strong and sustainable talent pipeline.

This summer, 95 interns participated in Carilion Clinic’s 8-week Summer Internship Program, gaining hands-on experience across 39 internship roles and 36 departments. Students joined us from more than 40 school affiliations, bringing a wide range of interests, perspectives, and career aspirations into our organization.

While the internship provides students with valuable work experience, its impact extends well beyond a summer position. It gives Carilion an opportunity to introduce emerging talent to the breadth of careers available within healthcare, build early connections with potential future employees, and help students envision how their skills and interests could contribute to our mission.

The program also intentionally focuses on developing skills that are essential in any Carilion role. During the eight weeks, interns participated in three professional development sessions focused on:

• Customer Service
• Communication & Collaborative Teamwork
• DISC Profile and Self-Awareness

These experiences help students build confidence, strengthen interpersonal skills, better understand how they work with others, and connect their internship experience to their long-term professional development.

Just as importantly, the program creates opportunities for Carilion employees to serve as mentors, preceptors, teachers, and role models. The time our teams invest in interns helps students understand not only what we do, but also how our values, culture, and commitment to our communities come to life every day.

Why this matters to Carilion

Developing our future workforce requires us to engage talent early. Internship experiences can influence career decisions, strengthen awareness of opportunities within Carilion, and create relationships with students who may one day return as employees, clinicians, leaders, or community partners.

The Summer Internship Program is therefore more than a student experience. It is a workforce development strategy and an investment in Carilion’s future.

Thank you to the leaders, managers, preceptors, departments, recruiters and team members who welcomed interns into their work this summer. Your willingness to teach, involve, challenge, and encourage these students is what makes the experience meaningful.

And congratulations to our 2026 Summer Interns on completing the program. We look forward to seeing where their experiences at Carilion take them next.