Rowan College at Burlington County’s culinary program offers an internship with Deborah Heart and Lung Center, New Jersey’s only specialty heart, lung and vascular hospital. Launched in January 2021, the Culinary Internship Program includes a structured curriculum that aligns with Deborah’s corporate governance and mission and values, while carefully following New Jersey State Sanitation Code and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points – vitally important regulatory checks in safe food handling.
Through this opportunity, students benefit from practical, hands-on advice and experience. Besides learning the ins and outs of day-to-day food preparation for a large organization, including the fulfilling of specific nutritional needs for hospitalized patients, the culinary interns learn many administrative tasks that go hand-in-hand with managing a commercial kitchen, including motivating staff, working together and fitting in with a company’s overall corporate strategic plan.
RCBC student Briana Rivera completed the fall program and has begun the new year as a full-time Food Service Staff Member at Deborah.
“During the Deborah internship program, I was able to work in the kitchen consistently preparing food to exact standards and nutrition, serving the employees in the café and even had the opportunity to interact with many of the patients,” Rivera shared. “It was intriguing for me to be able to work with these specific menus for patients' needs, diets and restrictions.”
Rivera’s interest in culinary arts sparked in high school when she had the opportunity to try different careers and quickly realized that cooking was what she wanted to do. She chose RCBC due to the college’s affordability and local convenience.
“My most memorable experience at RCBC was when I had the opportunity to learn new techniques and even learned different styles of cooking that I’ve never tried before,” Rivera said.
Rivera’s experience in the culinary field has grown even more since enrolling at RCBC and taking on the culinary internship. She hopes to eventually become a chef or start her own business.
“It's been a dream of mine since I started my culinary experience freshman year of high school,” Rivera said.
Outside of cooking, Rivera enjoys hairstyling, video editing and online shopping.
To learn more about RCBC’s culinary programs, visit rcbc.edu/culinary. For more information about Deborah, visit www.DemandDeborah.org.
