Local Mentor Me workshop grows Yuma's future healthcare workforce

Onvida Health hosted a three-day Mentor Me winter workshop that gave high school and Arizona Western College students hands-on exposure to health-care careers, part of a push to build a local pipeline of clinicians and support staff. By pairing participants with physicians and clinical teams, the program aimed to show students what day-to-day medical work in Yuma looks like and why training here can lead to long-term employment.

The workshop, held January 9, brought students into clinical settings where they observed and practiced basic skills under supervision, shadowed care teams and learned about the variety of job paths available in hospitals, clinics and allied health. Organizers designed the curriculum so participants could compare roles ranging from bedside providers to support positions that keep clinics running. The program intentionally targeted both high schoolers and Arizona Western College students to bridge the transition from secondary school to local postsecondary training.

For a county that relies on a relatively small cadre of health professionals to serve a geographically dispersed population, cultivating homegrown talent is central to maintaining access to care. Onvida officials framed the Mentor Me workshop as part of a longer-term strategy to reduce workforce leakage — the pattern of young people leaving Yuma for training and not returning — by exposing them early to career options available close to home. Students who took part described the value of learning directly from local professionals and seeing that medical careers can start here rather than requiring relocation.

The hands-on format also gives clinics and hospitals a chance to demonstrate workplace expectations, workplace culture and potential career ladders, which can make recruitment and retention more effective. Local health systems and educators often cite familiarity with community needs and continuity of care as reasons why retaining trainees matters; programs like Mentor Me create practical connections between classrooms, training programs and employers.

Onvida Health supports regional initiatives in other ways as well; the organization is an underwriter of KAWC. As workforce shortages continue to affect rural and borderland communities, early exposure and clear local pathways to certification and employment could influence whether young people choose to train and stay.

The takeaway? If you want more doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who know Yuma, invest in local training experiences and cheer on students getting their first shifts in scrubs—those early steps can make staying local a realistic choice.