Community Volunteers

The Community Teachers program is a volunteer program, seeking willing participants who wish to enrich the learning experience of health professions students through the sharing of their first-hand experiences of managing their chronic condition(s) within the healthcare system. All Community Teacher volunteers must meet these minimum requirements:

1. Be 18 years of age or older;
2. Have at least one chronic medical condition requiring medication;
3. Be willing to share with the students their perspective and experience navigating the health care system with regards to their chronic condition;
4. Be available to meet virtually (via video call) or in person with a team of 3-4 students, three times per program year (September - April)

Community Teachers and students will meet three times throughout the academic year. These visits will occur between October 2024 and April 2025 and each visit will last for approximately 60-75 minutes. Visit 1 must occur by October 27, 2024, visit 2 must occur by February 23, 2025, and visit 3 must occur by April 6, 2025.

Your student team will reach out to you to schedule your meetings and you will have the opportunity to discuss scheduling with your team and determine what works best for everyone!  Community Teachers will be asked in the spring of each year if they want to volunteer again in the upcoming year.

Each Community Teacher is assigned to work with one group of students. The Community Teacher and the students make up the CT team. Each CT team will consist of one Community Teacher and 3-4 students from a variety of health professions programs. 

For the 2024-25 year, student participants in Duluth will be from the College of Pharmacy, Medical School, and Occupational Therapy (from The College of St. Scholastica).

Student participants from the Twin Cities campus will be from the College of Pharmacy, FScN Dietetics, Medical School, School of Nursing, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy programs. 

Your Community Teacher team will meet three times throughout the academic year and the visits will take place either in person or virtually via video. As a team, you and the students will decide how to conduct each visit, however, your visit preference should lead the conversation. All students on the team are required to attend the visit the same way, either in person or virtually. It is not recommended that some students go in person and some students connect virtually. 

The in person visits can occur wherever you feel most comfortable. In the past volunteers have invited students into their homes, or met with students in a common area in their building, in coffee shops, libraries, or on the University campus. As a team, you and the students will decide on the best location to hold an in person visit. 

We want to make sure that we are taking measures to ensure the safety of our students and Community Teacher volunteers so please share with your students if you will be masking and/or require that they mask during in person visits. 

Students will meet with Community Teachers for about 60-75 minutes per visit. During each visit, students practice basic interviewing skills to understand the Community Teacher’s healthcare history and current needs, using a prepared visit guideline document to steer the conversation. 

• Your student team will incorporate the information you share with them throughout the first two visits to complete a final paper assignment. 
• In the final paper, students will share what they learned about your health situation (background), provide a brief assessment (not medical advice), and provide recommendations for addressing any strengths, needs, and opportunities to enhance well-being identified during the first two visits.
• Your team will also share reflections about their interprofessional teamwork experience in the same document. 

Visit 1 (Fall): This visit will be spent introducing everyone on the team. The students will ask you questions to get to know you. They will ask you to 'walk them through a typical day in your life'. They will also ask questions about your health history and current or past health concerns. 

Visit 2 (Winter/Spring): This visit will focus on some of your strengths, needs, and opportunities for you to enhance your overall health and wellbeing. You will provide students with any updates to your health or life since visit 1. The student team will prepare a draft of their final paper to share with you prior to visit 3.

Visit 3 (Spring): Students will review their draft final paper with you and give you the opportunity to respond and/or clarify any points included in their paper. If any changes are made to the final paper assignment during your Visit 3, your student team will share an updated, final copy of their final paper assignment with you following Visit 3.

NO. The students do not provide health care advice but rather focus on learning how to work in a health care team, including understanding which questions to ask so they can work collaboratively in understanding the needs of the patient.

NO. This volunteer experience is coordinated through the University of Minnesota's 1Health Interprofessional Education Curriculum, which teaches students from health professional programs the skills necessary to work with other health professions as they continue in their educational and professional development. The students have no connection to patient volunteers’ primary care providers, nor do the students have access to their medical records. Students will ask the patient volunteers basic interview questions and obtain a basic medical history from the patient during the first visit. 

All Community Teachers will receive basic information about the program and expectations about the role prior to meeting with the students. The 1Health Team is available to answer any additional questions you might have; contact us at [email protected].

Please complete the online application or, to apply by mail, download and fill out the paper application and send it to us one of two ways:

1. US Mail:
   • University of Minnesota -1Health Community Teacher Program, MMC 296 Mayo, 8296B Campus Delivery Code, 516 Delaware Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455
2. E-mail: [email protected]

Upon receipt of the application, the 1Health Team will review your information and contact you with next steps, usually within two weeks.

Current Community Teachers are our greatest recruiters!  We welcome your involvement in helping to recruit new volunteers!  Encourage your friends to apply using one of our two application methods; CT volunteer online application or download a paper application and submit via email or mail.  Additionally, please share the appropriate flyer with anyone who might be interested!

• Community Teacher Volunteer Recruitment Brochure
• Community Teacher Volunteer Recruitment Flyer - Twin Cities
• Community Teacher Volunteer Recruitment Flyer - Duluth 

Questions about the CT program? Contact the 1Health Team by email at [email protected]