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Health Professions - Student Education
AHECs, together with health professions schools, departments and programs,
provide community placements, service learning opportunities and clinical
experiences for medical, dental, physician assistant, nursing, pharmacy and
allied health students in rural and urban underserved communities. AHEC
placements give students the opportunity to experience health care in a real
world setting far removed from their health science centers. They get to
interact one-on-one with their future patient population in community health
centers, county health departments, homeless clinics, local practitioner's
offices and other community primary care sites. Students learn first-hand
about economic and cultural barriers to care and the specific needs of
underserved and ethnically diverse populations. AHECs, with their linkages
to local community resources and organizations, are uniquely qualified to
facilitate these placements. Current research has shown that health care
professions students who have participated in these experiences have a better
understanding of the complex needs of underserved communities. They are also
motivated to provide additional community services and set up practices in
underserved areas after graduation. In fiscal year 2005-2006:
- Health professions students have completed 3,342 weeks of clinical training outside the Denver metropolitan area
- Over 285 health professions students received training in rural federal safety net sites
- 35% were medical students
- 10% were nursing or physician assistant students
- 55% were allied health or other health professional training programs
- The AHECs support health professional training in over 61 rural sites
- More than 50% of these sites are in community health center or other federal safety net sites. The rest are in rural and other community based practice settings
- Almost 180 rural community preceptors, the majority of whom were physicians, participated in mentoring and training activities for students in rural community sites
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