Area Health Education Centers

Getting ready for another “down and back” to Washington tomorrow. Looking forward to meetings with Senator Reed and Congressman Kennedy to discuss a proposal to the DoD to train providers throughout the country on traumatic brain injury for wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Another great National AHEC Organization initiative!

Was glad to hear the President’s emphasis on job creation last night during the State of the Union Address. Healthcare will generate nearly 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between now and 2018 (Bureau of Labor Statistics), more than any other industry. AHEC: the nation’s “go to” organization for health care workforce development. Our national network is ready to help prepare that workforce to make a difference!

The National AHEC Organization offers its deepest condolences to the people of Haiti. Please consider a donation to one of the many organizations currently helping the Haitian people and working to rebuild the country. I recently donated to Partners in Health, which works to bring modern medical care to poor communities around the world, and has worked in Haiti for close to 20 years.
We are eager to learn what AHEC programs and centers throughout the country are doing to help; please share your efforts at supporting the people of Haiti with your AHEC colleagues. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by the earthquake.
Rob Trachtenberg
President, National AHEC Organization
Associate Director, RI AHEC Program

DEADLINE TO APPLY IS JUNE 1, 2009!
“I am interested in health and science.”
“I don’t know what I want to do when I graduate.”
“Healthcare has all the “hot jobs” – I wish I knew more about it.”
“I want to do something really cool & interesting this summer.”
Interested in exploring careers in the healthcare field?
REACT RI is for you!
• Raise awareness of possible health careers for your future
• Experience different healthcare settings through “sampling”
• Achieve basic skills used by health professionals
• Create friendships with new people from other schools
• Train for CPR/AED certification
If you want to apply to REACT RI, or learn a little more, check us out:
www.reactri.com - OR – Search for us on Facebook to see pictures and learn more about health and health careers!
REACT RI is a program of the Central RI Area Health Education Center (criAHEC), St Joseph Health Services of RI, in collaboration with Workforce Solutions of Providence/Cranston

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She Shines is a magazine celebrating the aspirations and accomplishments of women – published by YWCA Northern Rhode Island.
Yvette Mendez, Executive Director of the Northern Rhode Island Area Health Education Center (NRIAHEC) was recently interviewed for and featured in the most recent edition of She Shines. She discussed topics including health minority concerns, her interest in health education and professional goals. Yvette continues to inspire with her hard work and dedication to the mission of AHEC: Connecting Students to Careers, Professionals to Communities, and Communities to Better Health. Keep up the great work!
Yvette is also co-chair, Rhode Island Department of Health’s Minority Health Advisory Committee; board member, YWCA Northern Rhode Island; and a board member for the New England Rural Health Roundtable. Her organization has connected with YWCA Northern Rhode Island with their Capacity Building Course and an internship within the YWCA PIP program. YWCA also participated in a NRIAHEC REACT RI program.
To view the full article, please visit:
http://www.sheshines.org/content/view/495/453/
To visit the nriAHEC website: http://www.northernriahec.org/

Yvette Mendez

Breaking news: Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-FL) has agreed to introduce NAW into the Congressional Record at some point prior to Spring Policy Days.
National AHEC Week was established by Congress in 2006 to acknowledge AHEC’s “tremendous impact on the healthcare of underserved populations in our country.”

The Malford Thewlis Lecture on Gerontology and Geriatrics
“What Can Centenarians Teach Us About Healthy Aging”
Presented by
Thomas T. Perls, MD, MPH
Director of the New England Centenarian Study
Associate Professor and Researcher, Boston University School of Medicine
Wednesday, April 8, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Edwards Auditorium at the URI Kingston campus
A reception will follow at the URI Alumni Center on Upper College Road from 4:30-5:30 pm. It will be of interest to educators and students, health care and human service professionals, and the general public.
Dr. Perls will discuss findings from the New England Centenarian Study that truly have an impact upon how well we age and how long we can live. He will also warn us about the anti-aging industry and its false messages and nostrums.
Dr. Perls attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine, followed by Harvard Medical School where he received his training as a geriatrician. The New England Centenarian Study, now in its thirteenth year, is the largest genetic and social study of centenarians and their families in the world. Dr. Perls is also a well known and outspoken critic of the anti-aging industry and its marketing of purported nostrums and elixirs ranging from skin creams to growth hormone. Recently, he testified before the United States Congress as its expert on growth hormone and anti-aging quackery.
View flyer here: Download file

On Tuesday, March 10, 2009 the US Senate gave final approval to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year after overcoming a resilient Republican opposition and several Democratic defections. For the AHEC Program it means that the AHEC line item under Title VII will be funded for FY2009 at $32.54 million, which is a significant increase from $28.18 million in FY2008.
What does this mean for the 54 AHEC programs and nearly 215 centers scattered throughout the US? Possibly an additional $10-20 thousand per program and center for next year. Doesn’t seem like much, but for those programs and centers that operate on small budgets (all of them, actually), and having seen no increases for many years, and indeed reductions for some, any additional funding can provide a great deal of opportunities to provide for the recruitment, retention and continuing education of the primary care workforce. There are myriad health professions student initiatives, continuing education opportunities, and health provider resources that can be developed and leveraged with these additional federal dollars. This is an exciting time for the AHEC program, and for other health professions training programs-now is the time to make inroads into the recruitment and training needs of the nation’s primary care health care system!

I was pleased to see that in the Winter 2009 Edition of the Brown Medicine Magazine there were a number of articles that related directly to the mission and goals of the RI and National AHEC Program: access to quality care, the reduction of barriers to care through interpreter services, and the recruitment of minority and underrepresented individuals into health care careers. Notably, the profile of 1st year Alpert Medical School student Ben Brown and his innovative RI AHEC-supported project to improve medical interpreter services at Rhode Island Hospital in an interdisciplinary fashion was a wonderful thumbnail of the value and versatility of what the RI and National AHEC Organization can provide to health professions students, clinical training sites, and the community as a whole.
For 4 years now, the RI AHEC Network has been committed to facilitating and supporting projects such as Ben’s, and, with the Program Office here at Brown and the three regional centers located in medically underserved communities throughout the state, the RI AHEC network is uniquely positioned to build upon its campus resources and community-based connections to recruit, train, and retain today’s and tomorrow’s health care workforce so as to ultimately improve access to quality, patient-centered care for the most vulnerable Rhode Islanders. Thanks to students like Ben and the many others supported by the RI AHEC Network, the RI and National AHEC Organization is playing an important role in shaping how and where health care is provided throughout the country!
Please visit this blog frequently, as we’ll be periodically posting information about how Federal Stimulus Funds will be distributed for health professions training, information about the FY 2009 Federal Budget and how it might impact the National AHEC Organization, and, of course, we’ll provide regular progress updates of the RI AHEC Network.

The RI Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network has financial resources for up 12-15 health professions student projects for this summer (2009).
Wondering what to do this summer? Interested in learning about the health care needs of your community? Want to make some money, too, while pursuing a meaningful project or initiative that can enhance quality of care, improve access to health care services, or advocate for quality within the health care system?
$3,000 in Funding is Available for Community-Based Health Care Projects that support the RI AHEC Mission.
The RI AHEC Network will be holding an information session on February 25, 2009 from 12-1pm on the Brown University Campus at the BioMed Center in Room 291. Bring your lunch and learn about the RI AHEC Program and some of the summer projects available.
The RI AHEC Network is eager to work with health professions students to address health care disparities and health care access issues for underserved populations. Attached is this year’s proposal form.
The deadline to apply is Friday April 3, 2009.
Robert M. Trachtenberg, MS
Associate Director, RI AHEC Program
P: 401-863-2621
robert_trachtenberg@brown.edu
Please email or call with any questions; interest is already high!