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.