Update: SC AHEC Regional Centers Pivot Continuing Education Programs Online

We know that even through unprecedented times, health professionals still need continuing professional development to maintain certifications and licensure. To continue to be able to offer education to the professionals in their communities, the regional South Carolina AHEC centers quickly began transitioning scheduled continuing professional development programs from in-person events to webinars. Here are some brief highlights:

Lowcountry AHEC worked with longtime instructor Francine Muscarella, LMSW, LCSW, to offer her already scheduled courses The Art of Leading and Are You Running Out of Time? as webinars to professionals statewide. The transition allowed a multidisciplinary group of attendees to still participate in learning opportunities without leaving their homes. “Huge thanks and shout out,” remarked one attendee, “to all those involved to take this from an in-person class to transition it on short notice to a webinar.”

Likewise, Mid-Carolina AHEC cancelled all in-person educational courses through at least April 30 and transitioned existing programs to online, enduring or webinar format. Specifically, they offered an already scheduled four-part leadership series and a program on the ABC’s of pediatric care as webinars. The programs were also recorded and will be available as on-demand videos for professionals who were not able to attend the webinars.

Many people may be feeling more stress during this time. To address that, Pee Dee AHEC hosted a webinar on April 3 about how to manage and cope with stress during the COVID-19 epidemic. Susie Owen, a licensed clinical social worker, provided strategies to adjust to our new “abnormal,” assess the impact of disruptive events, and the do’s and don’ts for coping. Continuing education credit was available but the course provided useful information for health professionals and community members alike and nearly 200 people attended.

Upstate AHEC has also transitioned its in-person programming online. They have worked with frequent partner and presenter Pam Collins to plan a series of short webinars for school nurses. Since many schools are currently closed, the two programs, Legal Issues and Documentation for School Nurses and Professionalism in Nursing, have been a great opportunity for school nurses to obtain necessary continuing professional development. Upstate AHEC plans to offer these webinars again for anyone who would like to attend.

To see all upcoming learning opportunities, visit the statewide South Carolina AHEC continuing professional development calendar at https://www.scahec.net/calendar.html.

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 ...

South Carolina AHEC News & Updates

Search This Blog