South Carolina AHEC News & Updates

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 st...

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 publis...

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...

After discussions with multiple community partners, Mid-Carolina AHEC established a Nurse Aide Training Program in 2018 aimed at assisting regional healthcare facilities with their hiring and retention needs. The Nurse Aide Training Program is designed to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to perform basic care services for patients (in an acute care setting) or residents (in a long-term care setting). All classes and clinical rotations are held nearby to reduce travel for participants and Mid-Carolina AHEC works directly with both a regional rural hospital and a long-term care facility to provide training that supports facility staffing schedules. “Initially the goal was to provide the training locally, because at that time, the closest facility was about 30 miles away,” said Rebecca Jackson, a Continuing Professional Development Coordinator at Mid-Carolina AHEC. “This is a six-week course and by the end, participants are eligible to sit for their certificatio...

Pee Dee AHEC has partnered with Francis Marion University to collaborate on a Medical Mentors program, connecting undergraduate biology students with practicing medical professionals to gain real-life experiences in the field. Health Careers Program Coordinator Subira Smalls serves as the Pee Dee AHEC point of contact for the program and has been involved since its inception. “The goal is to introduce undergraduate college students to clinical experiences,” said Smalls. “We want them to step into the world of healthcare, by shadowing physicians, nurses and other professionals, and give them a firsthand look at the day-to-day realities of medicine.” Students in the program are given the opportunity to shadow a variety of healthcare professionals at McLeod Health Regional Medical Center, including physicians, physician assistants (PAs), nurses and other disciplines. Experiences students have been able to witness include surgical procedures like hip replacements, the insertion of vascular...

Anderson University hosted its second annual Pre-Med Boot Camp this year in May and Upstate AHEC was proud to support it as a sponsor. The two-week, intensive workshop is structured to prepare students for the expectations and application process of medical school and is led by physicians from AnMed and faculty members from Anderson University’s College of Health Professions and College of Arts and Sciences. The program is offered at no cost to participants and is designed for those who may not have the flexibility to participate in other extended, summer-long programs already offered around the state. The goal is to provide medical experiences to students from smaller colleges who may not typically have access to such opportunities which are often more readily available at larger universities. Experiences offered at the Pre-Med Boot Camp include shadowing opportunities with AnMed medical professionals across many disciplines, hands-on workshops, interview practice, MCAT preparation an...

Medical students had the opportunity to network with 15 of the state’s family medicine residency program faculty members and their residents at the 2023 South Carolina Family Medicine Interest Day, held on Saturday, August 26 in Columbia. Hosted annually by South Carolina AHEC in partnership with the South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians (SCAFP) and the state’s family medicine residency programs, the event is open to second- through fourth-year students from medical schools across the southeast and is designed to promote the specialty of family medicine as a career option. The day’s events were offered at no cost to medical students and included a welcome luncheon, networking sessions and skills workshops hosted by the family medicine residency programs. Workshop topics included casting and splinting, point of care ultrasound and scopes, central line placement, joint injections, acupuncture, dermatology procedures and many more. 77 students from 15 medical schools registered for ...