Skip to main content

Student Perspective: Angelique Mole

Ms. Mole working triage in a mobile clinic in Thailand
as part of the 2015 Summer Medical Institute, led by
Medical Campus Outreach
Ms. Mole is a former South Carolina AHEC Summer Academy participant and mentor who is now enrolled at the MUSC College of Medicine. The following account is written by Ms. Mole.

When I think of the South Carolina AHEC, I think of an organization that afforded me significant opportunities that led me to where I am now. Their commitment to improving healthcare in rural and underserved areas by reaching out to future healthcare professionals has helped me greatly as I seek to serve in an area similar to that in which I grew up: a place where primary care physicians are greatly needed. During my undergraduate education, I was a participant in the Summer Careers Academy as a medicine fellow. In this program, I learned about the importance of interprofessional teams, as well as the rewards and challenges that medical school would entail. I gained a new appreciation for building relationships with not only my peers, but also with faculty and staff that have provided me with much support in my path to becoming a physician. I am so grateful that I was able to give back to this program by serving as a mentor this summer. I have personally enjoyed the benefits of this program and I benefitted once again from being able to walk alongside students who have a desire to positively impact medicine.

Now, as a medical student, the South Carolina AHEC continues to bless my life through its Institute for Primary Care (IPC). I like to also think of that acronym as, “Information that Promotes Compassion.” Being an Institute fellow has challenged me to practically examine my role as a future primary care physician. Will I dominate or motivate my patients through motivational interviewing? How are medical homes changing medicine for the better? These are just two of the numerous questions that were posed and addressed during the monthly IPC sessions I attended. The resources the Institute for Primary Care provides have encouraged me to never forget to suffer with my patients as I seek to not only treat a disease but care for a person.

The South Carolina AHEC makes a huge investment in the lives of future healthcare professionals, understanding that this investment will continue to promote better healthcare throughout our state.         

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lowcountry AHEC Helps School Nurse Orientation Pivot Online during Pandemic

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

SC AHEC Excellence Awards: Gateway Award

The South Carolina AHEC Gateway Award recognizes individuals who are committed to furthering the development of future health professionals and are distinguished in their service to students in the health careers pipeline. This year’s Gateway Award recipient is Angelica Ellman Christie, Ed.D.  Dr. Christie is currently the vice president of academic affairs at Denmark Technical College. Previously, she served in the South Carolina AHEC system for numerous years: She started her career in 1998 as the Health Careers Program (HCP) coordinator for Greenville AHEC and advanced as the HCP director in the South Carolina AHEC program office in 2000. In the fall of 2018, Dr. Christie left South Carolina AHEC for her position at Denmark Tech. Throughout her career, Dr. Christie exhibited her passionate dedication to advancing the mission of South Carolina AHEC. She enthusiastically went above and beyond to research, develop, and successfully undertake new projects and programming to streng

South Carolina AHEC Welcomes Katie Gaul as New Office for Healthcare Workforce Director and Recognizes Linda Lacey's 10 Years of Service to the State

Katie Gaul The South Carolina AHEC Program welcomes Katie Gaul as the new director of the South   Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce and bids a fond farewell to Linda Lacey, who will be retiring at the end of the year.  Linda joined South Carolina AHEC in 2009 as the founding director of the South Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce (SCOHW), which received startup funding from The Duke Endowment. SCOHW works closely with other state agencies and health-related organizations to ensure they have the information they need about the healthcare workforce in South Carolina and the issues affecting the future of that workforce. During her tenure, Linda established the South Carolina Health Professions Data Book – a widely used resource that describes the available healthcare workforce, population, health status and social/economic conditions in each county in the state. Updated every two years, the data book was recognized as a ‘best state document’ in 2013 by the South