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Students preparing
for healthcare careers in West Virginia are
helping MBRCC reach out to communities
throughout West Virginia. Students in
thirteen disciplines at WVU and other
schools complete rotations at rural clinics,
where they get to experience first-hand what
a rural practice is like.
The program – the WV Rural Health
Education Partnerships / Area Health
Education Centers, or WVRHEP/AHEC –
includes more than 700 field faculty serving
as rural preceptors in all 55 WV counties.
Besides working in the clinics and assisting
with screenings, students undertake various
community education projects. Over the
past two years, students in the WVRHEP/
AHEC Program have participated in a
variety of service learning projects related to
cancer education and awareness on a variety
of topics such as skin, oral, colorectal and
breast cancer. During 2007-08, health
professions students participated in 68 cancer education and awareness programs
throughout the state, impacting 3,851
community members. “Our partnership
efforts with the Mary Babb
Randolph
Cancer Center
have provided us
with needed
resources and
expertise so that
our students can
present up- to-date
information and education to our
communities,” said Hilda R. Heady,
Executive Director of the WVRHEP/ AHEC
Program.
The ultimate goal of WVRHEP/AHEC is to
help rural areas recruit and retain health
professionals. “While on their rural rotations students see
and experience first hand what their lives might be like living and practicing in a rural
community. This is something we cannot
teach them on campus. Rural community
leaders and patients are the best teachers of
rural values and culture, showing both the
gifts and challenges of living a rural life,”
said Heady.
Erin Anderson, a
physician
assistant student
from Alderson
Broaddus College, assisted
with a Women’s
Health
Screening at
Roane County
Family Health
Care in Spencer while on rotation. Of the 25 women screened that morning, Erin
commented, “So many are affected by cancer
and feel they don’t have the means to get
checked. This program allows them that
chance. The women were thankful for the
screening.”
WVRHEP/AHEC continually strives to
improve service learning experiences for
students during their rural rotation
experiences. The commitment of the Mary
Babb Randolph Cancer Center to cancer
education and awareness has made the
partnership between the two organizations a
great fit. “We expect that ourpartnership
will grow stronger in the coming years as we
continue to look at ways to better educate
communities on cancer prevention and
awareness, and as we prepare future health
professionals to address health promotion,
wellness and education to their future
patients,” said Heady.
For more information on the WVRHEP/ AHEC Program, visit www.wvrhep.org.
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