Seniors at Pedro Menendez High School are rotating through hospital departments at UF Health St. Johns and AdventHealth, shadowing clinical staff two periods a day.

The annual internship rotations are underway, according to a Sept. 18 announcement from the St. Johns County Career and Technical Education program. Students rotate through patient care services and specialized departments at both hospital systems, gaining direct exposure to clinical work before graduation.

The academy builds toward three industry certifications: Basic Life Support, Electrocardiograph Technician and Certified Patient Care Technician. Juniors in the program can participate in job shadowing and summer internships at local medical facilities. Seniors take the deeper step, immersing in every clinical area of the hospital over two class periods each day, shadowing doctors, nurses and other staff.

Students also participate in Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), a curriculum-based club that brings in industry guest speakers, organizes field trips and sends students to competitions.

The rotations come as St. Johns County's healthcare sector faces a projected need for 3,500 additional employees, including nurses, imaging technologists, laboratory professionals, surgical technologists and behavioral health specialists, according to a January 2026 St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce report. UF Health is the county's second-largest employer with more than 1,500 local workers, according to Jacksonville Today.

"Those are critical resources for any of our organizations to be successful in caring for our citizens," Kimberly Diaz, vice president of ambulatory enterprise for UF Health St. Johns, said at the chamber's January Economic Development Council breakfast, discussing the county's nursing shortage.

Across the district, about 56 percent of high school students are enrolled in career and technical education pathways, which include 28 career academies, according to the CTE of St. Johns County. Students earned more than 5,000 industry certifications in the 2024-25 school year.

Andrea Armstrong, the academy's program specialist, can be reached at (904) 547-8660.