Project SEARCH is a groundbreaking program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that expanded from a single site in 1996 to a network spanning the globe.
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt hosted the first Project SEARCH site in Tennessee, offering interns free job training, educational development and employment opportunities since 2005.
With a primary focus of providing employment options for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the program’s instructor, Brandon Pflug, said program goals have also centered around expansion.
“Every year my goal is to expand our training rotations,” said Pflug. “So far, I’ve been pretty successful with adding new departments. Expansion is so important because it offers more options for incredible job training experiences for our interns. And it has led to really good outcomes.
“Moving our interns to various areas of healthcare is all about showing the world that adults with disabilities can be successful in highly competitive and complex areas.”
This year, the program introduced six interns to the Melrose Support Services Facility that houses the Vanderbilt Integrated Pharmacy (VIP) and the Enterprise Support Services Pharmacy (ESS). Each intern has received their registered pharmacy technician license through the state.
This is the first time that the program has assigned a dedicated off-site training opportunity for Project SEARCH interns.
“We have been successful in the pharmacy settings on campus, which have provided excellent training and valuable skill sets allowing our guys to pursue work in a pharmacy and bucking the trend historically.
“Using our person-centered training protocol, we are able to assess the individual and offer experiences that allow them to find their dream job or path,” said Pflug. “We are finding there is a growing number of our interns who see themselves in a pharmacy-related job role.”
Miguel Coleman is one of the interns introduced to the expanded pharmacy program with Project SEARCH.
The 20-year-old said he has always had an interest in pharmacy and was pleased to find an opportunity to explore the occupation’s appeal.
“This is one of my favorite programs, because I can be the best version of myself,” said Coleman. “Each day I talk about what I can improve on for the next day. Right now, my job is to fill prescriptions, create shipping labels, which is called manifesting, and restock. I’d love to be hired here. It’s actually one of my goals.
“I cannot stress enough how good it feels to be a part of this wonderful program and move toward my goal.”
Project SEARCH is a nine-month unpaid internship in which interns attend six-hour training sessions Monday through Friday. It includes a two-week orientation period followed by three 10-week rotations. Each day, participants attend a one-hour class focused on an array of independent living life skills.
The program provided interns to 36 departments at VUMC with typical program rotations including environmental services, guest services and nutrition services, until recently.
“The pharmacy program is an incredible opportunity,” said Dawn Howard, a Project SEARCH skills trainer. “We want to help instill independence and confidence in our interns to ensure they have success.
“The pharmacy program has helped individuals see that they are capable of other jobs besides those at restaurants and hotels. We are seeing the impact.”
Matt Pack, a 19-year veteran of the pharmacy industry, had never been exposed to a job training program that assisted young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Pack, a pharmacy technician manager at VIP, was excited to be a part of the job-training expansion.
“I hope that our partnership continues,” said Pack, BS, CPhT. “Partnering with the pharmacy provides opportunities that historically weren’t abundantly available for people with disabilities and now they are learning skills that they can offer in various pharmacy spaces. Our involvement has also had a great impact on our other employees.”
