Success Starts with ICAM
The Institute for Career Advancement in Medicine (ICAM) is an online collaborative platform designed to help learners interested in a healthcare career find their direction and get a head start. Our platform blends digital career tools, human support, wraparound financial relief, and a network of regional partners working together to help people move forward into healthcare. All ICAM tools and services are FREE, easily accessible, and personalized to your goals. ICAM provides opportunities for hands-on experience, structured career pathways, regional training programs, mentorship, and support services to aid your career success.
ICAM was created to address the country’s urgent and growing healthcare workforce shortage. Barriers such as low awareness of health career opportunities, disjointed or inaccessible training pathways, and limited coordinated support services further prevent individuals from entering or advancing within the healthcare industry. ICAM aims to build a sustainable healthcare workforce pipeline that increases access to education, training, and employment for underrepresented populations across New York. ICAM Thrive is one of the ways we make that possible.
Studies show that a diverse workforce improves health outcomes, patient satisfaction, and employee well-being, reinforcing the need to address longstanding workforce inequities. The platform ensures that those most affected by healthcare access challenges have clear, supported pathways into meaningful careers.
I Can with ICAM Thrive!
ICAM Thrive is a revolutionary new program designed to keep students who are pursuing healthcare careers on track as costs rise and obstacles emerge. Everywhere we look, it seems that life is asking more of us. Monetary barriers such as transportation, childcare, housing, and mental health support can derail even the most ambitious student. That’s where ICAM Thrive comes in!
Through our extended network, we pair students with a dedicated Case Manager, a personalized support plan, mental health referrals, and financial relief to ensure they have all the resources needed to keep pursuing their goals. ICAM’s robust platform offers a world of digital resources designed to broaden a student’s education and strengthen their confidence as they enter the ever-growing field of healthcare. Through our micro-learning modules, we help students develop life skills such as balancing their budget, finding their support network, and building effective time management strategies: essential techniques for the workforce and at home.
I Can with ICAM Thrive!
- Financial Relief*: Remove monetary barriers clouding your focus on career growth. ICAM Thrive can assist with childcare, utility & rent, transportation, medical copays, training equipment and uniforms, tutoring, language & ESL, and more.
- Personalized Case Management: Receive 1-on-1 support to keep you on track with your goals.
- ICAM Essentials: From budget building to finding your support circle, these micro-learning modules hone life skills to better prepare you for surprises outside of the workplace.
- Barrier Intervention Prevention: Explore our network of community, state, and federal opportunities to keep you focused on your future.
Who is Eligible?
Fully funded by NYS Department of Health, ICAM Thrive is available to all actively enrolled healthcare students* over the age of 18, across 17 counties throughout New York State including: Bronx, Cayuga, Clinton, Cortland, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Kings, Lewis, Madison, New York, Onondaga, Oswego, Queens, Richmond, and St. Lawrence.
*Based on available funding
Health Career Exploration
- Career Assessment: Match your skills and interests with hundreds of healthcare-related occupations with our 30 or 60 question Career Match Quiz.
- Field Work: Participate in local healthcare experiential opportunities like MASH Camp, Rural Immersion Program, AHEC Scholars, …
- Career Database: Compare health career profiles detailing job requirements, salary, education, and employment trends.
- Educational Institution Database: Compare higher learning profiles that offer degrees in your desired field.
Career Planning
- Career Exploration: Discover local career pathways and connect with opportunities that are right for your career goals.
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Training & Development:
Search Career Education Providers and apply for local training programs. - Job Prospects: Explore and compare employers hiring in your area.
Skills Development
- Career Assessment: Match your skills and interests with hundreds of healthcare-related occupations with our 30 or 60 question Career Match Quiz.
- Field Work: Participate in local healthcare experiential opportunities like MASH Camp, Rural Immersion Program, AHEC Scholars, …
- Career Database: Compare health career profiles detailing job requirements, salary, education, and employment trends.
- Educational Institution Database: Compare higher learning profiles that offer degrees in your desired field.
Career Support
Your Team: The folks helping you go from Learner to Graduate, there for you at every stage.
- Your Team Leader: Your guide for "where am I going and how do I get there”; representing your local AHEC team.
- Your Case Manager: Your support when obstacles arise, whether financial, logistical, or stability-based; ICAM Case Managers have the resources to help you through.
- Your Mentor: Your go-to coach, offering 1-on-1 guidance from someone who's walked your path; matched by interest, specialty, region, or shared circumstance.
Your Resource Hub: A world of information at your fingertips whenever the need arises.
- Career Development Database: Search for and connect with local Career Development Organizations to help you navigate the current job landscape.
- Local Support Database: Locate housing, transportation, and childcare services in your immediate area.
Your Extended Network: The behind the scenes, local collaborative catered to your specific journey, assisting your team as they promote your success.
- Your Local Area Health Education Center (AHEC): The regional organization where your Team Leader sits, responsible for tailoring your career pathway and building your Advisory Team.
- ICAM Program Manager: Regionally-specific oversight for your Case Manager; if you have a question your Case Manager hasn’t come up against, the Program Manager finds the answer.
- ICAM Advisory Team: A collective knowledge resource on tap; when your career path needs broader expertise, connections, or more local knowledge than one mentor holds.
ICAM uses a tiered membership model, 100% free from start to completion, that guides individuals through increasing levels of support and opportunity. All participants begin with Institute membership, which provides portal access, regional career pathways, self-guided resources, and a certificate of enrollment.
As participants engage, they can advance to Institute Scholar membership, receiving one-on-one career navigation, team leader support, and referrals to training programs and services.
The highest membership level, Senior Institute Scholar, provides ongoing mentorship, direct employer connections, and assistance with barriers such as childcare, housing, and transportation. This structured model ensures that participants receive the right level of support at the right time.
Enroll for FREE today →
Institute Member
All members are awarded a Certificate of Enrollment and gain immediate access to the following:
- Institute Enrollment Certificate
- Institute Member ID
- Career Exploration Tools and Resources
- Career Planning Tools and Resources
- Skills Development Resources
- Dedicated Career Support Services
Institute Scholar
Upon approval, you’ll continue to access everything at the Institute Member level, plus gain access to:
- An Institute Advisory Team
- Regional Career Pathways Content
- Local Housing, Transport, and Childcare Database
- Institute Senior Scholar Application
- ICAM Coaching Program
Institute Senior Scholar
Upon approval, you’ll continue to access everything at the Institute Scholar level, plus gain access to:
- Community-based mentors with experience and expertise specific to your career development needs.
- Advanced Career Support Services such as letters of recommendation and referrals.
