The Mid-Carolina AHEC team and members of Julie Ghent’s family were extremely touched when the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine--Carolinas Campus (VCOM) recently honored the late Mid-Carolina AHEC Health Professions Student Coordinator during their annual awards ceremony for third and fourth year medical students and preceptors. Julie passed away due to complications from COVID-19 in January. Dr. Matthew Cannon, Dean for the VCOM Carolinas Campus, and other faculty members recognized Julie’s tremendous contributions to the training of medical students in our state. They dedicated a bridge on campus in her honor, with a plaque that reads: "Julie was a “bridge” for many students who navigated from the classroom to clinical rotations in Lancaster, South Carolina. This bridge was not made of wood, but love and compassion for each student that crossed her path. Julie, a selfless student advocate, represented all that is great about our mission and the care we will give to ou
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