Mid-Carolina AHEC Partners for Pathways to Practice Scholar Placement

Mid-Carolina AHEC is proud to announce the continuation of a partnership begun in 2015 with the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region IV Public Health Training Center.  The Region IV Public Health Training Center  (R-IV PHTC) aims to strengthen competence of the current and future public health workforce in HHS Region IV, expose public health students to the value of working in underserved areas and advocate for public health systems and policies. For this upcoming summer field placement, Lovelace Family Medicine in Prosperity will host Pathways to Practice Scholar award selectee Jennifer Meunier, currently a first-year Masters of Public Health student at the University of South Carolina.

Ms. Meunier will be working with Dr. Oscar Lovelace and his staff to assess the effects of physician led weight management in primary care and will conduct research on the benefit of obtaining a body composition analysis for patients attending weight management classes versus those who attend class alone.  Further tasks will include attending a weekly weight management class, following up with patients and collaborating with the office’s weight management coordinator. 

As part of the field placement program, students are asked to complete a pre-survey, work plan, final evaluation, brief reflection and executive summary paper, and a draft conference abstract on their experience.  According to Michelle L. Carvalho, Program Manager and Coordinator at Emory University, these requirements may also meet degree requirements for the students as well. 

If you are a public health student interested in helping a rural community in South Carolina while completing necessary components of your curriculum, please contact Jeff Cauthen, Health Professions Student Coordinator at Mid-Carolina AHEC, at jcauthen@comporium.net or 803-286-4121.