South Carolina AHEC News & Updates

The Mid-Carolina AHEC team and members of Julie Ghent’s family were extremely touched when the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine--Carolinas Campus (VCOM) recently honored the late Mid-Carolina AHEC Health Professions Student Coordinator during their annual awards ceremony for third and fourth year medical students and preceptors. Julie passed away due to complications from COVID-19 in January.  Dr. Matthew Cannon, Dean for the VCOM Carolinas Campus, and other faculty members recognized Julie’s tremendous contributions to the training of medical students in our state. They dedicated a bridge on campus in her honor, with a plaque that reads: "Julie was a “bridge” for many students who navigated from the classroom to clinical rotations in Lancaster, South Carolina. This bridge was not made of wood, but love and compassion for each student that crossed her path. Julie, a selfless student advocate, represented all that is great about our mission and the care we will give to ou

For many years, orientation for school nurses in South Carolina has been an in-person event; however, due to COVID-19, this orientation, like so many other in-person events, was cancelled this past year. Yet the need to orient South Carolina's school nurses remains critical. Recognizing this need, a team consisting of Lowcountry AHEC staff, South Carolina Association of School Nurse President Dawn MacAdams and South Carolina Department of Education State School Nurse Consultant Vicky Ladd developed a plan to deliver the orientation as an online, self-paced course. The instructors supported the format change, working to convert their in-person sessions to online content, and Lowcountry AHEC will provide nursing credit for the series over the next two years. The orientation went live in the fall of 2020 and is available at no cost to South Carolina school nurses on the new and improved South Carolina AHEC Learning Portal. To find out more and register, visit the Foundations of School

Mid-Carolina AHEC partnered with the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association (IPMA) to provide a lunch and learn webinar for primary care providers related to pain management strategies for osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain patients. Dr. Lee Thomas, Director of Student Medical Education at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) Lancaster teaching site, at MUSC Lancaster Medical Center presented a live webinar: “Building Pathways in Pain Management.” The presentation utilized a scenario to engage the remote participants and combine the content and clinical application. The virtual format enabled participants to attend from their clinical setting or classroom.  To learn more about Mid-Carolina AHEC continuing professional development programs, visit the Mid-Carolina AHEC website.

Pee Dee AHEC’s continuing professional development programs, like so many other organizations, had an unexpected year full of transitions and adaptations to new platforms of training. As a result of COVID-19, Pee Dee AHEC quickly transitioned a large number of previously scheduled in-person programs to live webinars. Using the webinars has enabled Pee Dee AHEC to reach many new health professionals, resulting in many new participants across the state of South Carolina and beyond. For example, Pee Dee AHEC partnered with colleges and universities to allow senior nursing students to attend the “Legal Aspects of Nursing Documentation: How Well Would Your Documentation Hold Up in Court?” to earn 6.5 hours toward their clinical requirements. This partnership has continued to grow and serve as a great resource to nursing students and practicing health professionals as well. Pee Dee AHEC has hosted a variety of new speakers to teach programs to counselors and social workers that provided trai

Upstate AHEC partnered with Lila Doyle Nursing Home, Prisma Health, AnMed Health Rehab, Greenville County Schools, and the Greenville County Detention Center to help train their employees using a blended learning modality. Through this learning format, participants complete an online lecture and post-test via AHECU and then attend an in-person lab to practice their skills and complete their skills competency checkoffs. Upstate AHEC also works with the outpatient staff of Bon Secours St. Francis in Greenville to complete their medication administration and vital signs training and assessment utilizing the blended learning method. As part of the new hire orientation week, employees view online lecture modules and then attend a vital signs training and lab at Upstate AHEC as well as a medication administration lab. Certified medical assistants, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, radiology technicians, registered nurses, and unlicensed personnel are all a

Prior to COVID-19 Lowcountry AHEC’s Health Careers Program (HCP) has had great success with the Bench to Bedside 2.0 Program this past year. The “Career Options for Health Professionals” course at both Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and Denmark Technical College included a health professional discussion panel and mock skills lab facilitated by Lowcountry AHEC’s HCP coordinator. The event was a great experience on both campuses for local health professionals, college students, high school students and community members to interact with and learn from each other. The 57 participants received an abundance of information from health professionals that they could utilize on their paths to becoming healthcare professionals. Lowcountry AHEC’s Health Careers Program (HCP) strives to increase the number of students entering the health professions in South Carolina. Programs are designed to develop academically proficient and self-confident future health care professionals. Learn more abou

Prior to COVID-19 Students in the Mid-Carolina AHEC Health Careers Program were able to participate in an interactive activity that allowed them to act as nurses during a simulation activity. The experience was offered through Mid-Carolina AHEC’s continued partnership with Midlands Technical College: Airport Campus. Chaunta Simmons, RN, an instructor with the college’s Health Sciences Department, developed the experience to provide a way for students to actively learn about the nursing profession. Together with Nursing Department Chair Shirley Bannister, RN, they explained the roles of nurses, provided a brief presentation, and enabled students to perform as nurses by taking care of their simulated patient. Students completed a series of tasks common to the day-to-day nursing practice such as patient assessment, foley catheter management, patient positioning, post-operative management, medication administration and safety all while adorned with personal protective equipment (PPE).  &qu

prior to COVID-19 Pee Dee AHEC’s Health Careers Program (HCP) continues to expand in size, outreach, and community involvement. Within the 12-county region, the Health Careers Program worked and partnered with 31 schools in 14 different districts to co-teach and coordinate work-based learning experiences for 24 health science courses. Pee Dee AHEC also expanded HCP’s outreach efforts by coordinating and partnering with nine career fairs, three post-secondary education programs, seven afterschool clubs, one transition-to-work program, and conducting career talks at two alternative schools and four middle schools. To further serve the greater Pee Dee Region, the Health Careers Program participated in 14 advisory boards and conducted a community outreach service event. Pee Dee AHEC is currently planning to create, coordinate, and instruct “pathway” programs targeted at junior and senior undergraduates and gap year students to better prepare them for graduate school. These programs will of

prior to COVID-19 Students in the Upstate AHEC Summer Enrichment Program completed Stop the Bleed Training during a tour of the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville in July of 2019. The training, completed on amputee manikins, simulates a real-life scenario. Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign that encourages bystanders to become trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professionals arrive. The students received the training during a two-part life support series, which included Basic Life Support CPR for Healthcare Professionals.  Upstate AHEC’s Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) is designed to allow students to shadow, volunteer, and explore the healthcare environment while completing a checklist of experiential learning experiences in their own time. Students are assisted with finding placements at local healthcare organizations that will allow them to develop their skills, network with professionals, and solidify their interest in pursuing a ca