Mid-Carolina AHEC Partners with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Emory University

Mid-Carolina AHEC had the opportunity this summer, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region IV Public Health Training Center located at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, to offer the “Pathways to Practice Scholars” program in the Midlands region. This program provides an opportunity for public health students to gain practical experience working with seasoned public health practitioners serving or working on behalf of underserved communities or populations. All field placements are intended to enhance students’ professional skills and knowledge while giving them the opportunity to use skills learned in the classroom. Broad areas that can be addressed during a field placement experience are epidemiology or biostatistics, health policy, health management, health promotion and education, global health, health communications, environmental health, and refugee health.

University of South Carolina MPH candidate Andrea Gibson worked with Lovelace Family Medicine and Newberry County Memorial Hospital to generate and publish resources for maternal health. As part of her activities, Ms. Gibson created a website entitled “Carrying to Cradle: Resources for Healthy Pregnancies and Healthy Babies.” She also looked at infant mortality rates and primary C-section rates, comparing those of Dr. Oscar Lovelace’s office in Prosperity, South Carolina to those in the rest of the state and in other parts of the country. Her research has shown that rural medical practices can provide good quality of care, as shown by Newberry having one of the lowest infant mortality rates in South Carolina. Mid-Carolina AHEC Health Professions Student Coordinators Julie Ghent and Jeff Cauthen are pleased to have been a part of connecting Ms. Gibson with a community that can benefit from her skills and interests.

For more information, contact Mid-Carolina HPS Coordinators Julie Ghent (jughent@comporium.net) or Jeff Cauthen (jcauthen@comporium.net).

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Marchek Siblings Stay Connected With Upstate AHEC Through Academic Journey

A pair of siblings from Greer are giving back to current Upstate AHEC Health Careers students after completing the program themselves. Alex Marchek, MD is in his first year as a family medicine resident at Prisma Health Seneca. His younger sister by two years, Anna Marchek, is a second-year medical student at Edward Via College of Medicine (VCOM) Carolinas. “My mom likes to say she did good,” Anna joked. “Both of her kids are going to be doctors. She went two-for-two.” Anna (left) and Alex (right) Marchek are pictured with Nita Donald, Executive Director of Upstate AHEC. While Alex and Anna have both chosen to pursue medicine as a career, their interest in healthcare developed differently. Alex describes his discovery of health sciences as a slow realization. “It was definitely something that was on my radar really young,” said Alex. “My parents will say when I was six years old, I was talking about doing something in medicine. I had some really great science teachers in elementar...

Pee Dee AHEC Clinical Placements Help Students See Challenges – and Opportunities – of Rural Primary Care

Third-year medical student Omar Guerrero didn’t find his passion for a career in healthcare until he began shadowing health professionals as an undergraduate student. “I just knew that I really loved science and working with my hands,” said Guerrero, who double-majored in Public Health and Cellular & Molecular Biology while at the University of South Florida. It all clicked for him once he was able to observe physicians in their encounters with patients. “I saw there was a real need for Spanish-speaking physicians,” said Guerrero. “There’s a lot of disconnect between providers and Spanish-speaking patients and I thought that was definitely an area that I could make a difference in.” Now in his third year at A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, Guerrero is doing a clinical placement at Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. in Richland. Guerrero was connected with Pee Dee AHEC and their Health Professions Student (HPS) program...

Maternal and Infant Health Module Sprout Available on AHEC Learning Portal

In an effort to help improve maternal and infant health outcomes in South Carolina, SC AHEC has developed a new educational module titled Sprout , which serves as a collection of information, tools and resources available in the state to support healthy mothers and babies. The module, created in partnership with the SC Office of Rural Health’s (SCORH) Family Solutions and March of Dimes of SC , can be found on the AHEC Learning Portal at www.scahec.net/learn/sprout . Sprout is an expansion from SC AHEC’s routine educational programming, as the module is targeted toward community members instead of health professionals. To make sure information is reaching all members of the public, the program simplifies or defines many terms that are used commonly in healthcare and is written in plain language that non-healthcare professionals can easily understand. “The goal is for any resident of South Carolina who is interested in supporting healthy moms and ...

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