Skip to main content

South Carolina AHEC and MUSC Partner to Offer RISE Program

Funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Rural Interprofessional Student Experience (RISE) is a partnership between the South Carolina AHEC and MUSC College of Health Professions Physician Assistant Program. The RISE program provides PA students with an intensive two-week opportunity to transition from the classroom to clinical phase of their education by providing introductions to the healthcare delivery system, exposure to rural and medically underserved communities, and interprofessional experiences across the state.

While at the hospitals, the students observed interactions among numerous units in the healthcare system as it dealt with challenges of providing healthcare to the rural population of South Carolina.  This educational experience was provided through observational learning, discussions with clinicians, staff, technicians, and patients involved in the system of care within rural and medically underserved areas.  

All four South Carolina AHEC regional centers participated in this year’s RISE program. Below are some highlights.


Lowcountry AHEC


Lowcountry AHEC hosted 15 PA students that were placed at six area hospitals:
  • Allendale County Hospital
  • Coastal Carolina Hospital 
  • Colleton Medical Center
  • Southern Palmetto Hospital 
  • Hampton Regional Medical Center 
  • The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg  

Students also had an opportunity to tour the Veteran’s Victory House in Walterboro to learn about the federal and state-funded 220-bed facility that serves the long-term care needs of South Carolina veterans.


Mid-Carolina AHEC

Mid-Carolina AHEC hosted 18 students and included speakers such as Janice Dabney, CEO of Springs Hospital, who spoke on hospital economics. The students also learned about mental health in private practice, telemedicine/telestroke, psychology, diabetes in private practice, and START triage (Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment). Mid-Carolina finished the day with homemade ice cream for the students and coordinators.

Five hospitals in the Mid-Carolina region hosted students:
  • Springs Memorial Hospital
  • KershawHealth Hospital
  • Newberry County Memorial Hospital
  • Chester Regional Hospital
  • Mary Black Health System, Gaffney 


Pee Dee AHEC


Along with the Pee Dee AHEC health professions student coordinators and the eight hospital coordinators, these PA students observed and learned numerous aspects of the application of medicine and the rural hospital infrastructure. The students lived and worked in the community for two weeks as a precursor to their year of clinical rotations. 

Sixteen PA students participated in RISE at eight hospitals in the Pee Dee region. The participating hospitals were:
  • Carolinas Hospital Systems, Florence and Marion
  • Clarendon Healthcare
  • Lake City Community Hospital 
  • McLeod Health, Dillon, Loris and Seacoast 
  • Tuomey Regional Medical Center 


Upstate AHEC 

Upstate AHEC hosted 10 PA students placed at two hospitals in the region:
  • Edgefield County Hospital
  • Cannon Memorial Hospital

Because the hospitals are two of the more rural hospitals in the Upstate region, students were able to get an excellent idea of the realities of rural medicine.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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