Lowcountry AHEC Health Careers Programs and Successes

(right to left) Kristin Blair and Dr. Belk

Lowcountry AHEC works diligently to increase the number and diversity of students entering the health professions pipeline. The Lowcountry AHEC Summer Internship Program serves as a vehicle for accomplishing this goal by offering career exploration opportunities for graduating high school seniors and undergraduate students. Selected students are placed in Lowcountry healthcare facilities for four weeks in July. Students are provided opportunities to observe a healthcare setting and develop their personal and professional skills through special student sessions. Students who successfully complete the program are awarded a $500 stipend. Lowcountry AHEC has achieved great success through this program.

Lowcountry AHEC Health Careers Program Coordinator Natasha Chatman shares, “Our interns are awesome, and they really impress the preceptors at our clinical sites.” Kristin Blair, a senior at South Carolina State University, served as an intern with Edisto Dental Associates (EDA) in Orangeburg last summer. Due to her excellent performance, EDA convinced Ms. Blair to continue her experience beyond the program as a hired employee. Lowcountry AHEC proudly reports that she is only one example of the quality students who enter the healthcare pipeline through Lowcountry AHEC programs.

Another valuable exploration experience is the Health Career Exploration Symposium. This Lowcountry AHEC one-day workshop provides high school students with an opportunity to explore health careers through learning activities.

Applications for both programs will be available after January 15. To find out more information and obtain applications, visit the Lowcountry AHEC website or contact Natasha Chatman at chatmann@lcahec.com.

Comments

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

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

South Carolina AHEC Receives Funding to Establish Dedicated Nursing Workforce Unit within the SC Office for Healthcare Workforce

South Carolina AHEC received a $500,000 increase in recurring state funds for the 2023-2024 state budget to establish a dedicated nursing workforce unit as part of the South Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce (SCOHW), a division of South Carolina AHEC. With 58,318 actively practicing registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses in South Carolina as of 2020, the nurse workforce is the largest licensed health profession in the state, more than four times larger than the next biggest licensed health profession. Because of the size, complexity, and importance of the nursing workforce – a linchpin of the healthcare system – the new research unit will study the particular issues that affect the balance of supply and demand for nurses in South Carolina. However, SCOHW will not be embarking on this work alone. The research unit will work with nursing education programs, nurse employers, practicing nurses, community partners and other stakeholder

South Carolina AHEC News & Updates

Search This Blog