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Project Name: Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program (U77)
Applicant Title: UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES
Abstract Text: Project Title: Arkansas AHEC Point of Service Maintenance/Enhancement Program Name of School: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) State: Arkansas Department: UAMS Regional Programs Website: https://regionalcampuses.uams.edu/ Address: 4301 W. Markham, #599C, Little Rock, AR 72205 Fax: xxx-xxx-xxxx Project Director: Marcia Byers, PhD, RN Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx Email: xxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx Program Phase: The Arkansas AHEC is in POSME phase, including 8 existing regional centers. UAMS is Arkansas’ only comprehensive academic health sciences center, which is an accredited public university. Funding consideration: UAMS is the only AHEC program to ever exist in Arkansas. Geographic Area/Targeted Populations: Our 8 centers serve 74 of the state’s 75 counties. The entire state is characterized by extreme poverty, low population density, low education and literacy rates, large minority and geriatric populations, and healthcare workforce shortages. Clinical Priorities: Diversifying the health workforce & Improving behavioral/mental health access and care. 2022-27 Objectives: 1) Provide health career pipeline programs to at least 500 students per year, targeting diverse populations, to strategically contribute to a well-equipped future health professions workforce for Arkansas; 2) Provide interprofessional, community-based, didactic, and experiential opportunities that demonstrate and prepare students to deliver high-quality primary care for rural, underserved, disparate populations, to a minimum of 250 students annually; 3) Identify and promote an expansive scope of health and public health professions, aligning regional workforce initiatives, needs, and capacity to train health professionals in priority areas; 4) Facilitate continuing education and information dissemination for faculty instructors and rural preceptors, with emphasis on effective teaching, HRSA Core Topics, and care for underserved populations; 5) Ensure comprehensive statewide evaluation of all project activities. Milestones: Develop strategic, targeted recruitment plans for underrepresented minorities, disadvantaged and rural populations; Expand scope of health professions promotion to include CHWs and others; Integrate virtual reality gamification technology into programming; Define and promote clinical experiences unique to regional AHEC populations; Standardize and implement behavioral health curriculum; Increase modified community clinic rotations to integrate more FQHCs; Collaborate with Arkansas D.O. medical schools to promote rural practice; Train a minimum of 120 new AHEC Scholars annually; Align AHEC Scholars and the Honors Program in Rural & Underserved Primary Care; Increase participation of AHEC Scholars in rural and public health sites; Increase Arkansas Scholars’ connection to national resources; Identify and modify training resources to align with regional needs; Update recruitment materials and approaches; Facilitate bi-monthly grand rounds to provide at least 20 faculty development opportunities annually; Complete comprehensive assessment and continuous quality improvement of all program outcomes. Program Plan: This project will maximize strategic partnerships to better engage, recruit and retain more rural, underrepresented and disadvantaged students into health careers, offer more field placement opportunities for health professions students in FQHCs and rural facilities, and better equip students to provide culturally appropriate screenings for behavioral and mental health issues and social determinants of health. This project seeks to address health disparities in Arkansas by increasing diversity of students, ultimately increasing diversity of the workforce, and ensuring students have appropriate skills to care for underserved populations. Evaluation Plan: A continuous quality improvement approach to analyze, assess and evaluate key performance indicators, via Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle (PDSA) will be used.