University of Florida
North Florida AHEC Program
Influencing Health Professions Education
AHEC works closely with communities all over north Florida to improve health-care access on the local level, but also strives within the academic health center to influence health professions education toward a greater emphasis on the primary-care needs of the medically underserved. AHEC participation encourages and enables health professions education programs to enhance their curricula with community-based clinical experiences, interdisciplinary training, distance education and other programs vital to students' learning.
INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
Considered one of AHEC's most successful collaborations with the UF College of Medicine, the Introduction to Clinical Practice course required of first-year medical students has earned high ratings from students and preceptors alike for the past seven years. Part of the Essentials of Patient Care course block, Introduction to Clinical Practice places students in the field where community primary-care physicians throughout north Florida give them one-on-one instruction. The use of more than 80 community physicians each year has enabled the College of Medicine to expand its faculty base while maintaining its high academic standards.INTERDISCIPLINARY CLERKSHIP
With the assistance of AHEC, the College of Medicine has implemented an innovative interdisciplinary clerkship for its third-year medical students. The clerkship blends the formerly separate primary-care clinical experiences from three disciplines into a single, continuous, coordinated course with emphasis on primary-care pediatrics, internal medicine and family medicine. The clerkship provides students the opportunity to evaluate and manage common ambulatory problems in a larger number of patients than they would have seen previously.NURSE PRACTITIONER OUTREACH AND TRAINING
Through affiliation with the UF College of
Nursing, nurse practitioner faculty and students conduct clinics in
Brooker at the ACORN Clinic, in Redding at the Marion County Health Department
satellite clinic, in Lake Butler at the Union County Health Department and
in Jacksonville at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless. In addition,
Florida State University nurse practitioner
students participate in service/learning activities in Gadsden County and
other rural underserved areas surrounding Tallahassee. These educational
programs allow nurse practitioner students to provide primary-care services
that otherwise wouldn't be available to many rural and inner-city residents.
During 1997-98, more than 17,247 hours of nurse practitioner training occurred
at these sites.
CLINICAL ROTATIONS FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDENTS
Each year of the academic partnership with the UF Physician Assistant Program has meant an increasing role for AHEC in developing and coordinating clinical teaching sites and community faculty for these students. With AHEC assistance, the Physician Assistant Program has been able to offer students a rural track unlike any being offered elsewhere in the country. Susann LeBlanc is one of four former UF physician assistant students who accepted jobs in rural Jackson County after completing rotations there. The four also were the first physician assistants to practice in the county. "Our rotations really helped gain acceptance for the physician assistant profession," LeBlanc said. "We're the new critters on the block, so our presence helps preceptors learn how physician assistants function within the health-care team."KEEPING FAMILIES HEALTHY
This innovative program takes all first-year medical students into the homes of north central Florida families to learn about family health issues from people who face them every day. Students engage in a series of tasks involving interviewing and health assessments, coupled with small-group learning and discussion sessions in which faculty act as mentors. In 1997-98, 86 students participated in Keeping Families Healthy.RURAL HEALTH SCHOLARS PROGRAM
Health professions students with an interest in rural practice often receive little support for this preference at urban-based academic health centers. To make sure these students receive ample encouragement for their chosen career path, AHEC has created the Rural Health Scholars Program. The program identifies UF health professions students with a preference for rural practice, helps them establish a peer group, and supplements their curriculum with activities designed to prepare them for work in a rural practice environment. These activities include discussions with rural practitioners and clinic administrators, field trips to medically underserved practice sites, and rural rotations.Suwannee River AHEC: Developing Rural Training Sites
AHEC has developed Family Medical and Dental Centers in Palatka and Interlachen as training sites for medical, physician assistant, health education, nurse practitioner and dental hygiene students from the University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College. A federally qualified health center, FMDC offers students a unique opportunity to work with the rural poor, the uninsured, children, minorities and the elderly, all in one setting. Students' experiences with these medically underserved populations help broaden their perspective of the health-care system while teaching them important clinical and patient communication skills. In 1997-98, 85 students participated in 4,000 hours of training at FMDC.Big Bend AHEC: Rural Rotations for Family Medicine Residents
Residents from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's Family Medicine Residency Program continue to rotate in rural and medically underserved areas thanks to AHEC's support. The program's rural emphasis has led to a strong track record for rural placement, with 35 percent of graduates practicing in towns of less than 20,000. Three graduates -- practicing in Blountstown, Quincy and Wakulla County -- have been named Family Physician of the Year by the Florida Association of Family Physicians. TMH Family Practice Residency Program Director John Purvis said AHEC shares the credit for the program's impact on rural Florida. "AHEC funding and support has allowed us to continue our rural rotations in Quincy, Blountstown and Wakulla County," Purvis said. "This has allowed our residency to continue its mission of bringing our family practice residents into these smaller, rural communities."West Florida AHEC: Multi-specialty Resident Rotations
AHEC sponsors a series of elective rotations for primary-care residents in rural communities of west Florida, a region which has no family practice residency program of its own. Primary-care residents from all over Florida can come to the Panhandle for rotations in family medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedics, otolaryngology and surgery. Residents who have participated in the program have praised physicians under whose supervision they have worked and come to regard AHEC as a "valuable resource." As one resident remarked, "I was delighted to learn of all the practice opportunities available on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Thanks to your organization, I am months ahead of most residents at my training level in terms of having a postgraduate medical practice arranged."Northeast Florida AHEC: Center of Learning
AHEC and the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless have jointly established the Patricia Cox Borowy Behavioral Health and Education Center as a "center of learning" for health professions students. The mental health counseling center doubles as an educational center for psychology, health education, social work, nursing, dental and medical students. Under the direction of faculty and professional staff, these students provide much-needed services to the homeless population. Julie Reid, associate executive director at the Sulzbacher Center, said the partnership with AHEC is mutually beneficial. "The center has benefited from the energy, enthusiasm and hard work by the students, and the AHEC students have learned first-hand the needs of underserved populations," Reid said.
