For many years, orientation for school nurses in South Carolina has been an in-person event; however, due to COVID-19, this orientation, like so many other in-person events, was cancelled this past year. Yet the need to orient South Carolina's school nurses remains critical. Recognizing this need, a team consisting of Lowcountry AHEC staff, South Carolina Association of School Nurse President Dawn MacAdams and South Carolina Department of Education State School Nurse Consultant Vicky Ladd developed a plan to deliver the orientation as an online, self-paced course. The instructors supported the format change, working to convert their in-person sessions to online content, and Lowcountry AHEC will provide nursing credit for the series over the next two years. The orientation went live in the fall of 2020 and is available at no cost to South Carolina school nurses on the new and improved South Carolina AHEC Learning Portal. To find out more and register, visit the Foundations of School
Mid-Carolina AHEC partnered with the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association (IPMA) to provide a lunch and learn webinar for primary care providers related to pain management strategies for osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain patients. Dr. Lee Thomas, Director of Student Medical Education at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) Lancaster teaching site, at MUSC Lancaster Medical Center presented a live webinar: “Building Pathways in Pain Management.” The presentation utilized a scenario to engage the remote participants and combine the content and clinical application. The virtual format enabled participants to attend from their clinical setting or classroom. To learn more about Mid-Carolina AHEC continuing professional development programs, visit the Mid-Carolina AHEC website.