We hope you had a safe Independence Day. Unfortunately, every year people get hurt during the celebration. Fireworks are a lot of fun, but they can result in some really nasty burns and injuries. Since we encouraged you to blow stuff up yesterday, we thought we’d counter that by featuring a non-profit organization that helps children who endure severe burns. The Shriners Hospitals for Children do exactly that. Who are Shriners? They wear funny hats. They drive little cars in parades. They’re Freemasons. And most importantly, they help kids through their hospitals. That’s going to be our focus today, since college students likely aren’t that interested in being part of a fraternal organization that seems like it has an average age north of 60. Then again, you probably got all hot and bothered about your college’s greek organizations and secret societies.

What Do Red Fezzes Have to Do with Burn Treatment?

So, a group of Freemasons decided to start a non-religious fraternal organization for fun and fellowship based on a Middle Eastern theme, what the heck does that have to do with kids and burns? Somewhere along the way the guys in the organization decided to do some serious philanthropy, so they started Shriners Hospitals for Children which “is a one-of-a-kind international health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs.” Their three focuses are orthopedic care, burn care, and spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Over Shriners Hospitals for Childrens’ 86 years, they have provided free medical care to more than 865,000 children. Wow.

Do Interns Have to Wear the Funny Hats?

Although Shriners Hospitals for Children has entry-level jobs at their headquarters in Tampa, FL and in their hospitals in Boston, Canada, Chicago, Cincinnati, Erie, Galveston, Greenville, Honolulu, Houston, Salt Lake City, Lexington, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Northern California, Philadelphia, Portland, Shreveport, Spokane, Springfield, St Louis, Tampa, and Twin Cities, they only appear to offer internships at their hospital in LA. These internships are unpaid, but they’re offered in a plethora of disciplines including Human Resources, Nutrition, Physical Therapy, Prosthetics/Orthotics, Public Relations, and Nursing. There are no specifics listed as to when the internships typically occurs, which makes us think that these opportunities are offered year round (including the fall). The method of application varies for each internship, so be sure to look at the full descriptions to get all the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• ShrinersHQ.org
• Careers with Shriners Hospitals
• Internships at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles
• About Shriners Hospitals
• Shriners Hospitals Facts and Figures
• Shriners Hospitals’ Kids

Have you ever seen the Shriners drive their little cars around?