Our 2026 summer interns let The Floating Hospital staff, their supervisors, their family, and friends know how much the program meant to them on August 11, when all 16 interns gave summaries of their time with us in the form of PowerPoint presentations. The program took place from July 6 to August 13.
Those who participated were Jaliyah Acevedo, Araceli De La Luz, Benjamin Espaillat, Linnia Goodwin, Sienna Koball, Michael Lape, Dairsha Mack, Kimberly Martinez, Gavin McGowen, Yasuri Munoz, Yeiden Norales, Daniel Pinzon, Saba Rahman, Ahmir Ruiz, Rayan Shannak, and Selena Wu.
In addition to their regular assignments, interns visited the United Nations, volunteered in the Part of the Solution (POTS) community kitchen and food bank, and assisted with a cooking demonstration, the SOAR day camp, and a Women’s Wellness event.
Drawn from a diverse pool that included the New York City Summer Youth Employment Program, our staff’s families, and our younger patients from family and domestic violence shelters, many of the interns had plans to pursue careers in healthcare. The departments they assisted included registration, health education, behavioral health, and clinical operations.
After morning check-ins, they were off to their assignments, earning money while they learned skills valuable to potential employers, such as elements of the Microsoft Office suite, public speaking, phone etiquette, and customer service. They were also taught CPR (to use outside of the clinic) and conducted outreach to notify the community of our available services.
“One of the highlights of my internship was the opportunity to work with an amazing team of interns,” Jaliyah noted in her presentation. “We learned from each other, collaborated on various projects, and supported one another throughout our time together.”
After seeing his students’ final presentation, Anthony Jenkins, director of college and career readiness at the Urban Dove Team Charter School III Queens, said it “truly highlighted the amount of time, effort, and care that you and your team poured into them. The opportunities and experiences they were able to participate in were truly once in a lifetime, and it was great to see the impact the program had on their growth.”
