As a part of her summer internship, Lake Highlands High School senior Valerie McNamara plays music for patients at Baylor Scott and White Heart and Vascular Hospital.
McNamara, who plays the flute, wants to pursue a career in the medical field. This led her to apply to the Dallas mayor’s intern fellows program.
“I was pretty surprised when I got this just because my entire resume was music, because that’s all I do pretty much,” McNamara told WFAA.
Art Signo, the hospital’s director of education, saw the potential for her music background and hired her along with another musically talented intern, Madeline Sabedra of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
“We saw that they could do more, and we wanted them to understand that their talents, their skills can be used today to help take care of the patients here in our hospital,” Signo told WFAA.