South Carolina AHEC News & Updates

It is with great pleasure that South Carolina AHEC announces its next executive director, Ann Lefebvre, MSW, CPHQ. Ann succeeds Dr. David Garr, who is retiring after more than 15 years leading the South Carolina AHEC program. Ann comes to the South Carolina AHEC with extensive experience as the associate director of the North Carolina AHEC program.  She has leadership experience in strategic planning methods and the incorporation of new programs into an existing organization’s infrastructure. She has been directing the North Carolina Practice Support Program, a statewide, quality improvement initiative serving primary care practices with a focus on improving clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. This program has been recognized nationally as a model for practice facilitation and coaching. Ann has helped secure more than $35 million in federal, state and philanthropic funds and has championed the use of technology in the provision of clinical care.  She has collab...

We would like to welcome CeCe Heyward to the South Carolina AHEC Program Office. CeCe is the Education and Evaluation Coordinator and provides essential support for South Carolina AHEC statewide projects.  She joins the project teams for many of the AHEC system’s federal, state and foundation-sponsored projects and evaluation initiatives. CeCe also serves as a liaison to partners across the state, working closely with faculty, health professionals, health professions students, regional AHEC center teams and more. CeCe brings with her more than six years of experience coordinating and managing the implementation of multiple HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and endowment/foundation grant initiatives focused on oral health education and dental disease treatment and prevention from her previous position in the College of Dental Medicine’s Division of Population Oral Health.  CeC...

Pictured:  Ormarie Vazquez Silva with the course instructor, Wilma Rice,    MSN, RN, CEN Since 2006, Lowcountry AHEC has collaborated with the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research (SCTR) Institute at MUSC to provide essential trainings to researchers: “Basic EKG” and “Phlebotomy Skills for the Healthcare Professional.”   Research studies have many criteria, which are different for each study. Participant recruitment is important to the studies and involves evaluating an individual’s health as well as other criteria, such as the existence of co-morbidities. These evaluations enable participants to be matched with studies based on their health and profiles.   It is to the researcher’s advantage, as well as beneficial to MUSC, to have the required skills in phlebotomy and EKG so that all testing can be done internally. Ormarie Vazquez Silva, who is a program assistant at SCTR, attended the most recent “Basic EKG” course on ...

Highlights of the 2018 American Academy of Family Physicians’ National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students The annual American Academy of Family Physicians’ National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students was held on August 2-4, in Kansas City, Missouri. Residents, faculty and staff from nine South Carolina family medicine residency training programs attended. The conference is a great opportunity for medical students and residents to learn more about the state’s family medicine residency programs and fellowships and attend educational sessions and workshops. During the opening session, some of the nation’s top leaders and health equity advocates shared their inspirational work to address social determinants of health and reduce inequalities in health care. Other areas of focus included leadership development, clinical skills, musculoskeletal clinics, procedural skills, health policy, career planning courses and mu...