University of Florida
North Florida AHEC Program
Diversifying the Health Professional Work Force
Studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine and in the journal Inquiry have found the physicians most likely to care for the medically underserved are women and minorities. And yet, minority students are underrepresented in many health professions programs. AHEC is doing its part to make sure every young person has a fair shot at a health career by providing minority, rural and other disadvantaged students with health-related experiences, academic enrichment programs, summer camps and other activities designed to expose them to health career opportunities, build their self-esteem and prepare them for college. 
NORTHEAST FLORIDA AHEC: MEDICAL EXPLORERS POST
AHEC has partnered with the Boy Scouts of America to establish a Medical Explorers Post for minority and disadvantaged students in the Jacksonville area. For two years, AHEC has coordinated recruitment to the post of high school students with an interest in health careers. As post advisor, AHEC also provides adult volunteer leaders, program resources, activities coordination and meeting facilities. The program is designed to counteract the effects of poverty, stress and peer pressure by encouraging students from inner-city and underserved communities to identify career goals to which they can aspire and by offering them activities to help them succeed. In time, the program is expected to have a positive impact on the number of underrepresented minority students in college-level health professions programs.BIG BEND AHEC: HEALTH CAREERS SUMMER CAMP
For eight years, AHEC has offered rural and disadvantaged high school students in the Big Bend service area a week-long residential Health Careers Summer Camp in Tallahassee. The program is designed to nurture students' expressed career interests, teach them about health careers and their specific requirements, motivate them, and encourage them eventually to practice in the rural and medically underserved communities in which they were raised. Campers participate in tours of health-care facilities, practice decision-making and goal setting, interview a patient panel, perform service projects, and shadow health-care providers, among other activities. Each year, about 30 students attend the program, which has served a total of 235 students and 37 student counselors since its inception.SUWANNEE RIVER AHEC: HEALTH OCCUPATIONS STUDENTS OF AMERICA
For three years, AHEC has served as state advisor for Florida Health Occupations Students of America. This voluntary student organization focuses on leadership development for high school students enrolled in health science education programs and for post-secondary students who are interested in pursuing health careers. Florida HOSA has more than 5,200 student members, making it the third-largest state chapter in the nation. As state advisor, AHEC helps recruit new members, circulate information from the national office and organize two major conferences each year. The partnership with HOSA helps AHEC build relationships with health science education teachers throughout the state and has led to other joint projects and resource sharing. Since becoming state advisor, AHEC has succeeded in increasing HOSA membership and improving its financial status. The HOSA conferences AHEC has organized have been well attended and highly rated on formal evaluations.
WEST FLORIDA AHEC: HEALTH OCCUPATIONS AT OKALOOSA APPLIED TECHNOLOGY CENTER
Students taking the health occupations course at Okaloosa Applied Technology Center are considered by the school system to be at-risk. Some have dropped out of school or run away from home, while others are teen parents. AHEC has helped develop a curriculum focused on giving these students skills for entry-level positions in health care and preparing them for further schooling. AHEC's Florida Health Careers Guide is used as a text for the course, and AHEC has assisted in bringing in health professionals as speakers and in placing students in career shadowing experiences. Already, several students taking the course have decided to pursue associate degrees in the health professions at area community colleges. All 21 students who enrolled in the program, regardless of their chosen field, have become certified nursing assistants, making them immediately employable.HEALTH CARE SUMMER INSTITUTE
For each of the last four summers, about 30 minority high school
students from all over north Florida have participated in the Health Care
Summer Institute at UF's Health Science Center. The program offers students
a one-of-a-kind opportunity to explore the health professions, practice
study skills and experience life on a college campus for three weeks during
the summer leading into their senior year. All four AHECs work together
with the College of Medicine's Office of Minority Affairs to coordinate
the Health Care Summer Institute, which has depended heavily on AHEC's support
since its inception. Since 1995, 102 students have completed the Health
Care Summer Institute. Of those, 72 have finished high school and 30 are
in their senior year. Of the 48 graduates responding to a survey, 44 are
in college, including 10 at Florida A&M University, six at UF, five at Florida
State University, and 21 at other Florida colleges and universities. Of
these 44 students, 11 are in general studies, 30 have declared health-related
majors and only three have declared majors not related to health care. Of
those not attending college, three are in the U.S. Army, including one who
still plans to pursue dentistry. These numbers are evidence that the Health
Care Summer Institute is achieving its objective of increasing the number
of underrepresented minority students in college-level health professions
programs.
