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August 18, 2026
Mayo Clinic pathway programs help to build the future healthcare workforce by introducing learners to career options and educational opportunities. This story about high school exploration is the first in a two-part series highlighting the Education Shield's portfolio of pathway offerings.
For many students, a career in healthcare may begin with a few simple questions: What opportunities are available, and where might those opportunities lead? Mayo Clinic's pathway programs help answer those questions by connecting students with real-world healthcare experiences and the people who can help guide their future.
Across Mayo Clinic's campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, pathway programs introduce teens and young adults to the breadth of careers available in healthcare and help them envision their place within the field.
"Our pathway programs with a focus on high school learners do more than introduce students to healthcare careers," says Nneka I. Comfere, M.D., Waugh Executive Dean of Education. "They help young people discover where their interests and talents can make the greatest impact. By creating opportunities to explore healthcare early, we're building the foundation for lifelong learning journeys that not only lead to meaningful careers serving patients but also strengthen the future healthcare workforce."
A clearer vision for the future
For Sam Rudnick, Surgical Services, that discovery came through first-hand experiences. As a high school student participating in Rochester's Career Immersion Program, or CIP, in 2019, Rudnick was introduced to the surgical assistant role through job-shadowing experiences in the operating room. That helped her identify that the role aligned with her interests and lifestyle, giving her a clearer vision for her future.
"Being able to shadow surgical assistants and learn about their daily responsibilities helped me envision myself in that career and confirmed that it was the right path for me," Rudnick says.
After graduating from high school, she earned a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree from the University of Minnesota, Rochester, and joined Mayo Clinic as a patient care assistant while continuing to build her clinical experience. Today, she is enrolled in Mayo Clinic's Surgical First Assistant Program, to become part of the profession she first encountered through the Career Immersion Program.
Rudnick's story is a familiar one. Since its inception a decade ago, students from 139 Minnesota high schools have participated in the Career Immersion Program, and alumni have gone on to attend 192 colleges and universities. Many have continued their education beyond that through Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science programs, while others have returned to Mayo Clinic in clinical, research and allied health roles.
"Not every student can step into a healthcare environment firsthand, but we can bring those experiences to them," says Martha-Gracia Knuttinen, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Career Immersion Program. "When we make healthcare careers visible and accessible, students are better able to imagine themselves in those roles."
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Exploring a wide range of healthcare professions
In Arizona, Pragnya Karlapudi, an alumna from the Career Advancement, Research, and Education Summer Program, or CARES, is now a second-year medical student at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona. As a high school student in 2019, Karlapudi was part of the inaugural CARES cohort, spending five weeks exploring a wide range of healthcare professions while learning from physicians, nurses, social workers, radiology technologists and other healthcare professionals.
The experience provided more than career exposure: The mentors Karlapudi met through CARES continued to support her long after the program ended. Those connections opened doors to research opportunities, academic guidance and experiences that helped her navigate the journey to medical school.
"It was really the first time that I thought, 'OK, I can do this,'" Karlapudi says.
Years later, she remains connected to many of the mentors she first met through the program as she pursues her medical degree at Mayo Clinic.
Emily Dorairaj's experience followed a similar path. As a high school student in Florida, she participated in the Science Program for the Advancement of Research Knowledge, or SPARK, where she gained exposure to laboratory research and developed a deeper understanding of how scientific discoveries can ultimately improve patient care.
Dorairaj later returned to Mayo Clinic through the Clinical and Research Internship for Science Program, or CRISP, where she expanded her experience into clinical research and biostatistics. That deeper dive into research, data science and mentorship helped shape her academic interests and strengthened her understanding of the connections between scientific discovery and clinical practice. This summer, she will begin medical school at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona.
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Building pathways for future healthcare professionals
Beyond programs such as CIP, CARES and SPARK, Mayo Clinic works to expand opportunities for students through initiatives including RISE for Youth in Rochester, Pathways into Healthcare Careers in Florida and the new Pre-College Healthcare Academy in Rochester. Together, programs like these help young people explore healthcare professions, gain hands-on experiences and build relationships with mentors who invest in their educational and career goals.
As Mayo Clinic continues to invest in pathway programming, more high school students are discovering careers they might not otherwise have considered. For some, these programs provide a first glimpse into the possibilities of healthcare. For others, they become the beginning of a journey that eventually leads back to Mayo Clinic as a student, researcher or healthcare professional.