South Carolina AHEC News & Updates

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has named Oscar F. Lovelace, Jr., MD, the national 2015 Family Physician of the Year at its annual Assembly. The award honors one outstanding American family physician who provides patients with compassionate, comprehensive care, and serves as a role model in his or her community, to other health professionals, and to residents and medical students. Born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Lovelace has been a practicing family physician for more than 26 years. In 1988, he founded Lovelace Family Medicine in his grandparents' hometown of Prosperity, South Carolina, a small, rural farming community in Newberry County. Currently the practice employs 38 staff, including three board certified family physicians, 11 nurses and three nurse practitioners. Lovelace Family Medicine provides 8,000 patients with the full scope of family medicine services for patients of all ages, f...

The McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program, part of the South Carolina Family Medicine Residency Training Programs, is taking a comprehensive approach to preventing childhood obesity through a McLeod Foundation grant awarded in the amount of $5,275 for the proposal “Empowering Positive Parenting in Early Childhood.”   The proposal was submitted by residents Tareq Haidary, M.D.; Joseph Hoyle, M.D.; and faculty member Benjamin Elder, M.D.   The project focuses on the implementation of a proven early childhood literacy practice-based intervention, Reach Out and Read , along with additional innovative components that improve the delivery of clinical preventive services, such as the prevention of dental carries.  Reach out and Read serves families with children ages six months through five years who come for well child visits.   Practitioners promote reading as a safe, engaging activity that promotes a positive learning environment.   Using age-appropriate ...

To address the questions and dialogue surrounding the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa and care of patients infected with the virus, MUSC has created Ebola 101 for providers.   The video, presented by Dr. Cassandra Salgado from the Infectious Diseases Division, covers information about the virus as well as current treatment protocols. Click below to view the videos.

2014 Interns, left to right: Morgan McDaniels (Francis Marion University), Matt Holt (Coastal Carolina University), Angelica Bostick (University of South Carolina), Brianna Lewis (Coastal Carolina University), and Eric Robles (Coastal Carolina University) (Not all interns pictured) High school and college students in the Pee Dee region interested in applying for the Summer Internship Program for 2015 can get an early start this fall. The Summer Internship Program application will open in November instead of in February, as it has in the past.   “Our hope is that more students will apply for this wonderful opportunity and that this change will help us refine the way we take selected students through all the required steps to get started with their internships,” says Health Careers Program Coordinator Larrissa Clavon. More applicants applied for the 2014 Summer Internship Program than in 2013. Application numbers for 2015 are expected to be even higher...

Pee Dee AHEC is proud to announce that the Coastal Carolina Chapter of the Emergency Nurses Association is the deserving recipient of the 2014 Board Certification for Emerency Nursing (BCEN) Honorary Certification Recognition Award.  This award is an unprecedented achievement; no state council has ever been awarded this honor and all previous recipients have all been from large “Magnet” health care facilities. The award is based on the large number of certifications among its members. Many members have attended the CEN Certification Review and other educational offerings by Educator Pam Bartley, RN, BS, CEN, CCRN, CPEN and conducted through Pee Dee AHEC. The mission of this chapter, consisting of emergency nurses from Horry, Georgetown, and Marion Counties, is to promote education, professional networking, magnetic mentoring, and ending lateral hostility.  Past achievements of this chapter include sponsoring members to become certified “Car Seat Technicians” by the Nati...

Upstate AHEC is pleased to welcome Amie Snell, a Greenville resident and North Carolina native, as Financial and Human Relations Manager.   Amie, a certified public accountant, was previously a general accounting manager, internal auditor and controller with businesses in North Carolina and New Jersey. Amie has worked for the past year with another Greenville not-for-profit agency. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Guilford College.     She and her husband Greg, a banking professional, relocated to South Carolina three years ago when he was transferred to the Upstate area. The couple plans to make Greenville their permanent home. Amie and Greg have a 12-year-old daughter Madeline, who is an avid swimmer and keeps her parents busy attending swim meets.

Lowcountry AHEC will be offering a Nurse Executive Certification Review Course entitled, “Nurse Executive/Nurse Executive Advanced Workshop” on February 16-17 at Roper Saint Francis Healthcare Professional Development Offices in Charleston, SC.  This workshop is produced by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Credentialing Knowledge Center.  The ANCC provides 14 continuing education contact hours, valuable study tips, and information to be utilized in preparing for the certification exam. Domains of practice in the Nurse portion include:  Nurse Executive, Delivery of Care, Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Issues, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare Environment, and Professional Practice.  The Nurse Executive-Advanced portion includes: Quality Management/Care Management, Professional Practice Environment, Organizational Leadership, Organizational Systems Management, and Communication/Collaboration.  Visit www.lcahec.com for more information. ...

Pee Dee AHEC successfully recruited and approved 19 physical therapists and physical therapy assistants for its fifteen-hour Credentialed Clinical Instructor Program (CCIP) for rehabilitation professionals on November 14-15 at the Horry Georgetown Technical College - Grand Strand Campus in Myrtle Beach. Dr. Tammy Marcin, Academic Chair/Professor of the Physical Therapist Assistant Program of the Horry Georgetown Technical College, Grand Strand Campus Myrtle Beach, and Scott Montgomery, Director of Physical Rehabilitation of McLeod Loris Seacoast, Loris have partnered to provide the program. Participants come from various facilities, including Horry Georgetown Technical College - Grand Strand Campus, McLeod Regional Medical Center, Genesis Healthcare, Georgetown Hospital System, Carolinas Hospital System-Marion, and Central Carolina Technical College. To be eligible to attend this course, all participants completed and submitted a participant dossier and accompanying documentat...

Lowcountry AHEC and Beaufort Memorial Hospital (BHM) partnered to educate Lowcountry area healthcare professionals at the Tenth Annual Extreme Nursing Conference on October 3 at the Technical College of the Lowcountry in Beaufort, SC. Breakfast, lunch, and continuing education credits were provided.The topics discussed were designed to empower all providers of healthcare. The focus for this year was quality and the theme was Promoting Excellence at the Bedside .  The topics presented included: Eradicating Hospital Acquired C-Diff, How Social Media Impacts Quality, The Cost of Quality, Becoming a High Reliability Healthcare Organization, Preventing Medical Errors, Key Core Competencies for Healthcare Professionals and the Impact of Humor on the Patient and Healthcare Provider.   International motivational speaker, Glen Ward presented, along with Shana Dykema, MHA, CPPS from the South Carolina Hospital Association; Susan Chewning, RN, BSN; Sharon Beasley, RN, PhD; Mary Sc...

HPS Students at the JDOH Presentation with Mrs. Arnold's Class Rural Interprofessional Student Experience    The MUSC Physician Assistant Program requires the students to participate in a two week Rural Interprofessional Student Experience (RISE) prior to beginning their clinical year of rotations. Pee Dee AHEC coordinated with seven hospitals in its twelve county region to host 17 students. The students enjoyed gaining experience in the rural communities and the infrastructure of the various hospitals. Community Health Worker Program The Community Health Worker (CHW) Program is a partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services. During the second year of the initiative, the five sites in the Pee Dee region have expanded to include nine CHWs. The CHWs are serving patients in Chesterfield, Florence, Horry, Lee, Sumter and Williamsburg counties. Pee Dee AHEC hosted the fall quarterly meeting in September and is planning the next regional meeting for Dece...

On October 9, health professions students from the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville, and the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Carolinas Campus were invited to attend South Carolina’s recognition of “Corps Community Day.”  A presentation was held on the campus of the Medical University of South Carolina and faculty and students at the other institutions were able to participate via videoconference. This program provided information about the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which exists to increase access to primary care where it is needed most.  The NHSC is a federal program that provides scholarships or repays the educational loans of healthcare providers who agree to serve a minimum of two years in a federally designated health professional shortage area. South Carolina AHEC Executive Director David Garr, M.D., served as moderator for the program and s...

Lowcountry AHEC Health Careers Program (HCP) Coordinator Natasha Chatman participated in the 2014 Diversity Conference sponsored by the College of Charleston & the National Association of Holmes Scholar Alumni in September at the College of Charleston. The theme was “Building Partnerships to Support Youth of Promise.” Attendees participated in conference sessions, workshops, and community celebration that addressed ways educators can meet the needs of diverse learners through building community, student advocacy, and higher education partnerships. The keynote speakers were Freeman Hrabowski, III, Ph.D., president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Meta VanSickle, Ph.D., Professor and Department Chair for Teacher Education at the College of Charleston; and Margaret Olmos, M.A., the Chief of Staff in the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education.   The speakers shared compelling messages that urged educators to meet the needs of diverse learners ...