COPE Health Scholars - Los Angeles, California

Rebecca Rowell

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

My daughter joined a program through her high school, hoping to gain valuable knowledge and experience within a hospital setting to support her aspirations of becoming a registered nurse. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing due to poor communication and lack of organization from the program leaders.

From the start, there were issues. It was nearly impossible to get her T-shirt, which was a bad sign. Throughout the program, communication was so poor that basic requests via text or phone call went unanswered. When my daughter started at the hospital, the nursing staff complained that they had no direction from the program about what to help or teach her. She was made to feel like a burden, especially in the Emergency Department, where she was turned away and sent back to Med/Surg with nothing to do.

Despite these challenges, my daughter finished her hours early by working extra shifts just to complete the program. However, the promised certificates never came. After reaching out to a higher-up, we were told the certificates were never received for her and that she would have to wait another 12 weeks. This is completely unacceptable.

This program lacks integrity and is run by unprofessional employees who seem indifferent to the experiences and education of the participants. I would not recommend this program to anyone looking for a supportive and educational experience in the medical field.
Location: Willits and Ukiah, CA

desyyy22

I finished this program about 5 months ago. I would not recommend this program to other students. I paid $400 for the 9 month program. In my opinion it’s ridiculous for them to charge students who want to volunteer their time to helping others. Now that I have finished the program I am still waiting to receive my certification that is given once the program is completed. The program manager Emma Baoluzian stated that it only takes 5 months and now supposedly takes 6 months. There is so much miscommunication within this program. I would not recommend. Save your money.

J. M.

I've done two sets of this program. The first time I did it with Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and that went well. I got to know the staff and I was appreciated and received great value for my money from this. However my second time I did my hours with Kaiser Anaheim and that was the worst experience I've had. The problem wasn't the hospital but the COPE organization. Those leaders were hostile towards the students and sometimes outright cruel. Management didn't intervene and would send the information back to the person you had the issue with in the first place.

Save your money and apply directly with Kaiser Hospital to do your volunteering for free through them. It'll save you money and a headache when dealing with this program.

In general I would apply through the hospital and save the money. This program doesn’t do anything special and it doesn’t look any different on your medical applications than if you were to volunteer through the hospital directly. Though they state it makes a difference, to graduate programs it does not.

Save your money or find a program that actually supports you. I would do the Hoag program again if I wasn’t able to find a hospital that accepts me as a volunteer but I wouldn’t do the Kaiser of Anaheim program.

annelysia vindiola

The only reason why I’m giving a two-star review is for the experience I’ve gained at the hospital through this program. Otherwise, I would be giving cope health scholars 1 star. I have been in the program for 9 months and paid over $400 to participate in this program. First I would like to say that it’s outrageous that this program charges broke students at least $300 to volunteer and get experience in a hospital setting. I participated because I need the hours for applying to Medical school and this program had a good reputation. When I first started the program I was excited to finally be in a hospital setting. After the first 3 months, everything went downhill. I was at the KP Riverside location after about 4 months when we were notified that the program manager was resigning (first red flag). We didn’t have a program manager for months and everything was so unorganized. Department coordinators would either hound you every second of the day with emails or wouldn’t respond for months (Second red flag). In addition, the people who run this program can care less that the students who participate have a life outside of volunteering and real responsibilities. This leads me to the most important red flag. BEWARE for anyone who has a job, health complications, kids, brothers/ sisters, or commute. Know that if you have an emergency you only get 5 rescheduled/missed shifts over 3 months. With this being said Department coordinators are condescending and in need of feeling powerful. If you reschedule or miss more than the allotted shifts just be ready to get an email from the department coordinators threatening to kick you out of the program and stop you from graduating. They do not care you are sick and dying they still have the nerve to threaten you. This is alarming because you would think that since you are in a hospital interacting with patients the program would be understanding and encouraging volunteers to stay home you are feeling unwell. However they do not care, I notified my department coordinator that I had a fever of over 100 and could not make it to my shift on a surgical floor where many patients are sick and recovering. In order to protect myself and others I made the wise decision to not volunteer that day. When I reached out to my DC they didn’t hesitate to tell me that my rescheduled shifts were alarming and threaten to not let me graduate the program even though I had already completed the 280 hours. What was alarming to me was the lack of understanding towards someone who has had heart surgery and is immunocompromised to be told that my rescheduled shifts were “alarming.” It goes to show that the people who are in their twenties that are running this program are entitled, unprofessional, and in need of feeling powerful.(Note: the department coordinators do not get paid for their position) They clearly need to be trained on how to approach certain situations and not make assumptions about a situation they no nothing about. Lastly, if you are a student the shifting hours can be inconvenient and not as flexible as others say. Just expect to be missing class, calling out of your shift, and having limited time to keep up with your studies. Overall I value the experience I gained at the hospital, working and building relationships with the nurses, doctors, and patients. However, if you are considering dropping a hefty amount of money please consider the amount of stress you will have to endure putting up with the people who run this program, aside from the actual volunteering.

Aram Chalikyan

The program gave me the opportunity to experience different aspects of health care that I wouldn’t have been able to find anywhere else. I learned more about what health card members do and even learned about careers I never knew existed. Additionally, with Leadership Team, it’s allowed me to grow professionally and develop skills that I previously lacked. Overall, I’ve built great connections and skills that I believe will give me an upper hand when applying to future job openings, graduate schools, and more!

Dianne Do

I became a COPE Health Scholar during college to pursue medicine and healthcare. It was one of the best decisions I had ever made, the program positively shaped me into who I am today.

Going into the program I was afraid of being in the way or bothering the doctors and nurses but it was the exact opposite. Right when I started, I realized that the doctors and nurses loved that the Health Scholars were there. I remember when I would walk in at the beginning of my shift, the unit secretary or nurse walking by would cheer, "we have a Health Scholar tonight!" It felt so good to be wanted around and the staff would always tell me to ask them to bring me into procedures I couldn't do hands-on, but could watch and learn. A charge nurse in the program I spent a lot of time with even wrote me a recommendation to get me MSN.

The COPE Health Scholar program taught me so much, I'll never forget my time there. I now recommend the program to anyone I know wanting to go into healthcare.

ninelia Khechoomian

This program is the reason I became a registered nurse. I was a cope health scholar for two years and it solidified my decision to pursue RN since I was able to experience first hand what it means to be a nurse. I felt beyond prepared for school because of my experiences on the floor as a cope scholar

Gary (“Gazza”)

This is an incredible program. If you are looking to switch careers or start a career in healthcare the training and support you receive will prepare you for school. This was instrumental in my acceptance at a top tier nursing school!