Essentia internship helping Grand Rapids siblings kickstart their careers in rural healthcare

Grand Rapids siblings Paige and Adam Jacobson are getting a firsthand look at what it means to practice rural medicine through Essentia Health's new Career Explorer Internship — and for both, the experience is helping confirm the path they hope to take in the future.

Since January, the Jacobson siblings have been shadowing providers at Essentia’s Deer River and Grand Rapids locations, rotating between clinic and hospital settings and learning from a wide range of specialties. The internship has given them valuable exposure to day-to-day patient care while deepening their understanding of what it takes to serve a rural community.

“Paige and I both plan on going to college and hopefully becoming physicians,” said Adam, 18. “To do that, we wanted to get some experience in the clinic and see how things work. It has been so wonderful to be able to pursue our dreams and make sure that this is the right path for us.”

Paige, 20, said one of the most rewarding parts of the internship has been meeting patients, seeing how providers work together as a team and getting to go through the experience with one of her best friends.

Their interest in healthcare was shaped in part by their mother Lana Jacobson, a family medicine nurse practitioner at the Essentia Health-Grand Rapids Clinic. Growing up around her work, the siblings said, showed them the importance of advocacy, compassion and patient-centered care.

“She’s really inspired us to care for the community and for people,” Paige said. “We've grown up seeing her passion for the healthcare field, and she really instilled that passion and desire in us.”

For both students, caring for rural communities is especially meaningful. Raised in Grand Rapids and Deer River, they say their communities helped shape their desire to give back.

“We love the community,” Paige said. “It’s such a close-knit, community-based feeling.”

Adam said he hopes to one day return to a rural setting and serve patients in a smaller community.

“We really want to help out our smaller communities and do everything that we can,” he said.

The internship is also giving Paige and Adam, who are both studying biology, a chance to grow as learners outside the classroom. They said providers regularly invite them into discussions, ask them questions and encourage them to connect what they’ve learned in class to real-world care. That hands-on learning, they said, has been one of the most valuable parts of the experience.

Like many health systems across the country, Essentia Health is facing challenges recruiting and retaining rural healthcare providers. Essentia hopes internships like this one will help introduce more young people to rural medicine at an early stage, when career paths are still taking shape.

“This internship program is not only a way for students to gain healthcare experience, but it’s also an opportunity for us to showcase what it’s like to work in a rural healthcare setting,” said Essentia Health-Deer River Administrator Mandy Reed. “We want to invest in the next generation of rural healthcare providers and encourage them to choose meaningful healthcare careers.”

Essentia plans to continue the internship program in Deer River next year during the fall and spring semesters. Essentia also offers this internship in the Brainerd Lakes area and is looking to expand the program at other locations through local school collaborations.

“We are so grateful for the curiosity and passion that Paige and Adam have brought to their internship,” Reed said. “We hope this kind of early, immersive exposure to healthcare careers will inspire the next generation of rural providers.”

For Paige and Adam, the internship has confirmed that rural healthcare is where they want to make a difference – and where they hope to return one day as providers themselves.