The Center for Life Beyond Reed

Award Description

STCE encompasses brief but impactful encounters in healthcare, from one-day engagements to those spanning several weeks, including shadowing professionals, attending workshops, or volunteering with a healthcare organization. Funding for these opportunities ensures that financial hurdles do not prevent students from gaining crucial practical insights, skills, and networking opportunities.

Covered expenses include travel, transportation, meals, professional attire, and essential tools for the role. A detailed budget form is expected with the application. 

Award Amount

• One-day (one-time shadowing experience, workshop, etc.): Up to $100
• 1-10 Weeks (volunteering, shadowing, etc.): Up to $500
• 10+ Weeks (year-long volunteering commitment): Up to $1000

Requests over those limits need to be supported by a detailed budget form and explanation for the expenses.

The maximum yearly allowance per student is $1,000.

Application Deadline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the academic year and must be received in Handshake by Sunday night at midnight for the application to be considered at the next committee meeting (that Monday or Tuesday).

Eligibility

Currently enrolled Reed students are eligible to apply.

Funding

Applicants may receive a maximum of $1000 from the DHCF STCE Fund per academic year. You may apply more than once if you have not yet reached the $1000 limit. Funding requests will be reviewed by CLBR staff and your experience supervisor and, if approved, may be fully or partially fulfilled depending on the applicant’s financial need, strength of application materials, and availability of funds. All approved funding requests will be paid through the Business Office as a cash advance. Receipts are required, and unused funds must be returned. Funding for awarded applications can sometimes be received by Friday that week, but often not until the following Friday, so please plan ahead. Holiday weeks can also delay the receipt of funds.

Application Instructions

All applications will be submitted in Handshake Experiences. The application consists of filling out the "Request an Experience" form and then uploading three documents as attachments. These are the three documents to upload: A one-page resume, a cover letter, and a budget. Please include your name and the document type (cover letter, resume, or budget) in the file name and upload all documents as PDFs. You won't be able to upload your documents until after you submit and complete the form.

Please read our FAQ as well. You can also review this guide from Handshake on how to request an experience.

"Request an Experience" Form

The experience type you'll select at the top is "The Daniel Healthcare Career Fund (DHCF) 2023-2024." There will be two to three pages included in this form. There are some optional questions at the top of the form; please fill in as much information as you have. You will need to provide the name and email address of your experience supervisor, and they will see your form responses, as well as your attached documents, except for your budget, which will only be seen by CLBR staff. The last question on the form will require you to include a two to three-sentence short summary of your opportunity for potential use in publicity and stewardship materials.

Resume

An up-to-date one-page copy of your resume summarizing any work and volunteer experiences relevant to the opportunity for which you are applying.

Cover Letter

Upload a PDF document of no more than 1,000 words with the following components:

• One-paragraph introduction that succinctly summarizes your proposed experience and the benefits to you.
• Description of how this experience fits your career goals in the healthcare field.
• Description of the mission and purpose of your host organization.
• Description of the work/project/activities you anticipate doing, as well as a description of your motivation and interest in this area.
• Summary of the skills, knowledge, or other relevant preparation you will bring to this position.
• Outline the desired educational outcomes of this experience, how they apply to your goals, and how your experience host will support these outcomes.

Detailed Budget

Upload an itemized budget of your summer expenses and an explanation of how you will cover any expenses that exceed the award amount. Please use our budget template. Refer to our budget FAQ first if you have questions.

Apply in Handshake

Award Description

The Summer Internships or Research category is intended to support students partaking in summer internships and clinical research opportunities at research and healthcare facilities with little to no payment. These opportunities offer invaluable hands-on experience in the healthcare arena. Funds aim to cover living expenses, transportation, food costs, attire and supplies needed for the opportunity, and other associated costs. Please include all anticipated costs in your budget form. 

Eligible Opportunities

To be eligible for funding, the internship or research

• must include at least 320 hours of work over 8–10 weeks in the summer between May 12th and August 27th (though the work can start earlier, or end later),
• must be off-campus (the opportunity cannot be with Reed College),
• must be unpaid or underpaid,
• must be with a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, academic institution, or in the public sector (unpaid internships with for-profit or other types of organizations may be funded if the application demonstrates that they meet guidance from the Department of Labor),
• can be in-person or remote.

Applications for support with for-profit/private sector businesses or individuals are generally not funded unless the application demonstrates that the internship/research will comply with the guidance (linked above) from the Department of Labor. Applications for support with for-profit businesses or individuals must address this guidance in the application. 

Eligibility

Currently enrolled Reed students who will return to Reed in Fall 2024 are eligible to apply. 

Award Amount

Award amounts will be up to $5,000, and opportunities must include at least 320 hours of work over 8–10 weeks in the summer between May 12th and August 27th (though the work can start earlier or end later).

Application Instructions

All applications will be submitted in Handshake Experiences. The application consists of filling out the "Request an Experience" form and then uploading three documents as attachments. These are the three documents to upload: A one-page resume, a cover letter, and a budget. Please include your name and the document type (cover letter, resume, or budget) in the file name and upload all documents as PDFs. You won't be able to upload your documents until after you submit and complete the form.

Please read our FAQ as well. You can also review this guide from Handshake on how to request an experience.

"Request an Experience" Form

The experience type you'll select at the top is "The Daniel Healthcare Career Fund (DHCF) 2023-2024." There will be two to three pages included in this form. There are some optional questions at the top of the form; please fill in as much information as you have. You will need to provide the name and email address of your experience supervisor, and they will see your form responses, as well as your attached documents, except for your budget, which will only be seen by CLBR staff. The last question on the form will require you to include a two to three-sentence short summary of your opportunity for potential use in publicity and stewardship materials.

Resume

An up-to-date one-page copy of your resume summarizing any work and volunteer experiences relevant to the opportunity for which you are applying.

Cover Letter

Upload a PDF document of no more than 1,000 words with the following components:

• One-paragraph introduction that succinctly summarizes your proposed experience and the benefits to you.
• Description of how this experience fits your career goals in the healthcare field.
• Description of the mission and purpose of your host organization.
• Description of the work/project/activities you anticipate doing, as well as a description of your motivation and interest in this area.
• Summary of the skills, knowledge, or other relevant preparation you will bring to this position.
• Outline the desired educational outcomes of this experience, how they apply to your goals, and how your experience host will support these outcomes.

Detailed Budget

Upload an itemized budget of your summer expenses and an explanation of how you will cover any expenses that exceed the award amount. Please use our budget template. Refer to our budget FAQ first if you have questions.

Apply in Handshake

Award Description

This fund is tailored for students requiring assistance to procure professional attire or essential tools for their healthcare career exploration opportunities. It ensures students can present themselves professionally and confidently.

Note: If applying under the first two categories, expenses related to attire or tools required by the experience should be integrated into those applications, not sought separately here.

Award Amount

Award amounts will be up to $200 per academic year. Students may submit multiple requests until they reach the $200 maximum for the year.

Eligible Expenses

Eligible requests include the funding of professional attire for opportunities to engage in healthcare career experiences, such as shadowing, job interviews, etc., purchase of scrubs, professional shoes, and other tools required to acquire a healthcare opportunity.

Funding must support confirmed opportunities, i.e. we would not fund a student to purchase clothing for an interview that has not been offered. 

Reimbursements

Two-week limit: You may apply for funds to reimburse you for expenses that you have already paid for, as long as you paid for them no more than two weeks prior to the date of application. Expenses that you paid for more than two weeks prior are not eligible expenses for this fund.

There is no guarantee that your application will be funded, so it's best to apply for funding prior to paying for something.

Application Deadline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the academic year and must be received in Handshake by Sunday night at midnight for the application to be considered at the next committee meeting (that Monday or Tuesday).

Eligibility

Currently enrolled Reed students are eligible to apply.

Funding

Applicants may receive a maximum of $200 from the DHCF Attire and Professional Tools Fund per academic year. You may apply more than once if you have not yet reached the $200 limit. Funding requests will be reviewed and, if approved, may be fully or partially fulfilled depending on the applicant’s financial need, strength of application materials, and availability of funds. All approved funding requests will be paid through the Business Office as a cash advance. Receipts are required, and unused funds must be returned. Funding for awarded applications can sometimes be received by Friday that week, but often not until the following Friday, so please plan ahead. Holiday weeks can also delay the receipt of funds.

Application Process and Materials

The DHCF Professional Attire and Tools Fund is a funding application in which you must specifically address the prompts provided. The more clearly you explain how this funding will support your future career pursuits, the better. Please provide context for your request, bearing in mind that the readers may not know your financial circumstances or how your request fits into your larger healthcare career goals.

Apply via The Daniel Healthcare Career Fund Application in Handshake, including:

• Responses to two short essay prompts (250 words max for each response). Be thorough and detailed in the words allotted; we need a thoughtful response to both questions in order to consider your request.
  • Prompt one: What are your professional goals, and how will this funding help you achieve them? Please be explicit about how this request is related to career exploration or development.
  • Prompt two: Describe your financial circumstances, particularly regarding the resources available to fund the activity for which you request DHCF Tools and Attire Funds. Within this response, please indicate whether you receive financial aid from the college.
• An itemized budget detailing how you will spend the funds and any relevant documentation supporting the request. Be sure to include a total in your budget request and indicate how any expenses in excess of your DHCF request will be covered. Combine the budget with the document containing your responses to the prompts.
• A one-page resume or CV

We strongly recommend that you have your resume and application reviewed before you submit (see the right-hand sidebar of the CLBR website for Drop-In Advising hours and locations).

Apply in Handshake