South Carolina AHEC Joins AHECs Across the Country at NAO Conference

Left to right: Allison Gayheart, SC DHHS; SC AHEC Executive Director Dr. David Garr, SC AHEC; Program Director Megan Old, SC DHHS Health Initiatives Team; Center Director Cheri Plyer, Mid-Carolina AHEC; Center Director Fay Brown, Upstate AHEC; Director of Nursing Cindy Causey, Little River Medical Center; Community Health Coordinator Mira Palomares, Little River Medical Center; Center Director Gail Weaver, Pee Dee AHEC.

This June, the South Carolina AHEC joined AHECs from across the country at the 2014 National AHEC Organization (NAO) Conference in Charlotte, NC. The four-day conference was an opportunity for AHEC programs to present on best practices and successful initiatives, dialog about the current state of healthcare, and look to the future.

Members of South Carolina AHEC presented a total of 16 presentations encompassing interprofessional practice, community health worker programs, assessing continuing education outcomes, workforce data and analysis, and the health professions pipeline. South Carolina AHEC staff brought back many innovative ideas from the inspiring conference and look forward to putting these ideas to work.

Comments

SC AHEC Scholars: Preparing the Next Generation of Primary Care Providers

Hannah Robinson, MD knew she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare from a young age. “I’ve always wanted to be a doctor since about the sixth grade,” said Dr. Robinson. “I remember being in health class and watching the Miracle of Life video and just being fascinated with women and their ability to create and bear life.” Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Robinson spent time working on the obstetrics unit at her local hospital in Rock Hill and observed a trend with their patients. “What I noticed was a lot of the families that we serviced actually weren’t from Rock Hill. We also served surrounding counties that were really rural and seeing how these families were traveling to Rock Hill to deliver their babies was really shocking to me,” said Robinson. Due to a maldistribution of OB/GYNs in the state of South Carolina, individuals may have to travel great distances just to receive the care they need. In its most recent South Carolina Health Professions Data Book published in 20

Lowcountry AHEC’s Strong Partnerships Serve School Nurses Statewide

For over three decades, Lowcountry AHEC has been proud to support school nurses across South Carolina in their professional development through statewide conferences and meetings. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and in-person events came to a halt, Lowcountry AHEC along with their partners, were able to pivot to alternate methods to continue providing training opportunities for school nurses. One such way Lowcountry AHEC was able to adapt was implementing online modules so that school nurses could continue to receive the same professional development and learning opportunities in a virtual setting. The first course, Foundations of School Nursing , included nine modules and was uploaded to the South Carolina AHEC Learning Portal (ALP) by August 2020 . With over 1,600 registrations to this day, Foundations of School Nursing is the most popular course currently on ALP. “We began to do some work with them on online modules,” said Lowcountry AHEC Center Director Diane Mathews. “All new schoo

Medical Mentors: Pee Dee AHEC Connects Students to Clinical Experiences

Pee Dee AHEC has partnered with Francis Marion University to collaborate on a Medical Mentors program, connecting undergraduate biology students with practicing medical professionals to gain real-life experiences in the field. Health Careers Program Coordinator Subira Smalls serves as the Pee Dee AHEC point of contact for the program and has been involved since its inception. “The goal is to introduce undergraduate college students to clinical experiences,” said Smalls. “We want them to step into the world of healthcare, by shadowing physicians, nurses and other professionals, and give them a firsthand look at the day-to-day realities of medicine.” Students in the program are given the opportunity to shadow a variety of healthcare professionals at McLeod Health Regional Medical Center, including physicians, physician assistants (PAs), nurses and other disciplines. Experiences students have been able to witness include surgical procedures like hip replacements, the insertion of vascular

South Carolina AHEC News & Updates

Search This Blog