Purchase AHEC

Murray State University
Room 225 Wells Hall
Murray, KY 42071
Phone: (270) 809-4123
Fax: (270) 809-4125

Staff:
Loretta Maldaner, Center Director
Ernie Romero, Hispanic Cultural Specialist (HETC)

Purchase Area Dental Clinic

Throughout the Commonwealth problems of access to proper dental care are amplifying, especially in children, due to the lack of dental insurance or available resources. In September 1995, the Purchase Area Dental Clinic was created in collaboration with the Purchase AHEC, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, and West Kentucky Technical College Dental Assisting/Dental Hygiene Program. Established to meet the needs of children in the Purchase District who do not have resources available to receive appropriate dental care, volunteer dentists and students provide a comprehensive examination including cleaning, fluoride treatment, sealants, restorations, and dental health education. This successful clinic received the 2002 Community Preventive Dental Award from the American Dental Association and a feature article in the January/February 2002 issue of the Kentucky Dental Association (KDA).

School-based Science Enrichment Programs
An important goal of the Purchase AHEC is to inspire students in western Kentucky to pursue a health career. An inadequate background in science and math, especially for minority and other educationally disadvantaged children, often makes pursuing a health career difficult. To enhance the educational preparations of students, Purchase AHEC partnered with the Carlisle and Hickman county schools to implement science enrichment programs in the classrooms. The Purchase AHEC staff work closely with third and fourth grade teachers to create a series of hands-on activities and experiments to augment the school's current science curriculum. Every week, the coordinator brings to the classrooms resources such as skeleton models, magnets, balances and test tubes designed to help students master and apply basic science concepts.

Forensic Science

Targeted toward high school students, this program engages and educates students on the different roles and careers associated with forensic science. Throughout the school year, students participate in hands-on activities including DNA fingerprinting, chromatography, urinalysis, soil analysis, chemical analysis, radiation detecting, and recreating a crime scene. On-site visits, as well as guest speakers from the local forensic lab and law enforcement offices, are scheduled to provide students with the opportunity to speak to the experts. This program is taught in conjunction with any level science, law or health occupations class.

West AHEC

Trover Foundation
435 N. Kentucky Ave. Suite A
Madisonville, KY 42431
Phone: (270) 824-3442 or (800) 357-8801
Fax: (270) 824-3457

Staff:
Glenda Hughes , Center Director

Carol Phebus, Assistant Center Director

The "World's Greatest Baby Shower"

Since 1993, the West AHEC has sponsored the “World’s Greatest Baby Shower” for expectant mothers and partners. It is an educational, informative, and interactive program for expectant parents to encourage proper prenatal and newborn care. The program covers such topics as car seat safety, breastfeeding, immunization, medications, in addition to an “Ask A Doc” session that allows participants to ask questions of local specialists. The project has grown to provide multiple showers in nine counties, with the expectation to include additional counties and sites in the future. Since its inception, the West AHEC has coordinated 36 showers with 4,931 participants. Program evaluations are always positive, with participants consistently commenting on the valuable information and knowledge they have obtained.

West AHEC Health Career Programs
The West AHEC developed a wide variety of programs to stimulate student interest in health careers including classroom presentations. The presentations include information on the variety of health careers available, the duties of various health professionals, preparation necessary to enter a health career, and Kentucky colleges that offer health professions education programs.

Elementary school presentations include coloring books with a health career theme, and an opportunity to model health professional clothing, such as surgical caps, shoe covers, and nursing caps. Middle and high school students participate in a variety of career fairs. Ninth graders in Hopkins County attend the "Ninth Graders Health Career Days," sponsored by the West AHEC. Booths are staffed by local health professionals and provide students the opportunity to handle medical devices and tools used by health professionals.

The "Discover Health Careers" summer workshops offer high school students a one-week, intensive immersion in health careers. The campers participate in educational modules designed to enhance their science skills, shadow health professionals at local clinics and hospitals and enjoy a variety of other hands-on activities that simulate the work of health professionals.

South Central AHEC

Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd
Bowling Green, KY 41038
Phone: (270) 745-3325
Fax: (270) 745-5928

Staff:
Lucy Juett, Center Director

AHEC and EMS: A Lifesaving Partnership
One of the characteristics of the Kentucky AHEC program is the mandate to identify and address health needs at the local level.

The Regional EMS Coordinator partnered with the South Central AHEC to upgrade paramedic programs and increase the number of programs offered in the area. The South Central AHEC surveyed all certified paramedics in Kentucky. The survey confirmed the need for more paramedic programs which resulted in an associate degree program in paramedicine being established.

Collaborative efforts facilitated by the South Central AHEC to upgrade paramedic programs has been developed to address education, research, and professionalism of EMS personnel in the state. The Kentucky Emergency Medical Services Academy (KEMSA) was formed in December 1998, at Western Kentucky University and funded by the South Central AHEC. One of the first educational offerings by KEMSA was the development of a Critical Care Emergency Medical Transport Program course.

Farm Safety

The South Central AHEC co-sponsors Farm Safety Day Camps in several rural counties each summer. Students ages six through twelve participate in educational programs on animal safety, ATV safety, chemical safety, disability awareness, electrical safety, fire safety, first aid, gun safety, home alone safety, and machinery safety.

Generalist Physician Track (GPT)

This program is for rising first year medical students who will be entering medical school in August. Students spend four weeks investigating public health, community health, and healthcare facilities. The focus of this initiative is to expose students to the concept of the “community as patient” before they enter medical school and focus solely on diagnosing and treating individual patients.

Northwest AHEC

Northwest AHEC
Family Health Center - Portland
2215 Portland Avenue
Louisville, KY 40212
Phone: (502) 778-1607
Fax: (502) 774-1833

Staff:
Brenda Fitzpatrick, Center Director

Promotion of Health Careers
Since the summer of 1999, over six thousand elementary, middle and high school students in Louisville have participated in a variety of activities introducing the numerous careers in the health care field. These activities include classroom presentations, health fairs, after school and summer programs.

One of the Northwest AHEC's most intensive efforts is the Health Careers Adventure Program (HCAP), which includes a four week summer enrichment component for students in grades 6-12 who want to pursue a health career. Each summer approximately 80 students improve their academic skills in biology, math, chemistry and reading/writing classes and enjoy field trips to observe health professionals at work. During the school year, after school and Saturday programs include tutoring, volunteer activities, and special speakers.

Collaborative Partnerships
The "African Americans for Wellness" event, designed to promote good health practices among African Americans, is a result of successful community collaboration under the leadership of the Northwest AHEC. The program provides free educational materials and health screenings for vision problems, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol as well as colorectal, prostate and oral cancer. Over 750 adults participate in the event which is sponsored by the Northwest AHEC and numerous other local organizations.

Southern AHEC

Southern AHEC
Rockcastle Hospital and Respiratory Care Center
P.O. Box 1770, 145 Newcomb Avenue
Mt. Vernon, Ky 40456
Phone: 606-256-0950
Fax: 606-256-1066

Staff:
Dwain Harris, Center Director

HOT Expo! (Health Occupations Today)

Each year the Southern AHEC sponsors the annual H.O.T. Expo (Health Occupations Today). High school students from the 14 county area interested in healthcare careers attend this program and are provided with the opportunity to speak with over 40 health professionals. Exhibitors consisting of educational institutions and healthcare facilities provide students with detailed information regarding specific health careers and educational requirements. This is one of the southern most popular events with students and the local schools.

Summer Science Program

In an effort to interest more students in science at an early age and promote health careers, the Southern AHEC, in partnership with the Family Resource Center, offers a summer science enrichment workshop. The three-week Hands on Science Outreach (HOSO) Program is designed to increase students’ interest in and enjoyment of science. Students, grades one through six, meet two hours a day for three weeks. Hand-on activities, such as calculating the amount of water used in a shower or observing the effects of acid rain on limestone, are just two examples of activities planned to keep students engaged. Activities for younger students include making homemade paper and learning about noise pollution. All the activities integrate science and math.

North Central AHEC

North Central AHEC

Gateway Community & Technical College
1030 Old State Road
Park Hills, Ky 41011
Phone: (859) 442-1191
Fax: (859) 581-0589

Staff:
Karkie Tackett, Center Director

Health Occupations Workshop

The looming shortage of healthcare workers is a growing concern for hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities. The North Central AHEC sponsors a variety of health career preparation, awareness and hands-on programs for middle and high school students. The goals of these programs are to provide students with information on a variety of health careers and to assist those students in appropriate educational studies. The staff of the North Central AHEC partners with local school systems, clinics, health professionals and other agencies to present information.

Northeast AHEC

Northeast Kentucky AHEC/HETC
St. Claire Medical Center
222 Medical Circle
Morehead, KY 40351
Phone: (606) 784-2432
Fax: (606) 784-2767

Staff:

Kayla Rose, Center Director
Carlos Marin, BA, RRT

Telemedicine: An Innovative Educational Tool
Telecommunication technology provides a powerful new tool for education, and nowhere is that more apparent than at the Northeast AHEC at Morehead. The interactive video network, St. Claire TeleCare, developed by host site St. Claire Medical Center has become an important vehicle used by the Northeast AHEC to deliver continuing education to medical professionals in northeastern Kentucky. By using T-1 telephone lines and specialized telecommunications equipment, two or more sites can be connected allowing participants at each site to see and hear one another simultaneously.

The Northeast AHEC uses the interactive video network extensively to deliver continuing education programs to health professionals at clinics and hospitals in northeastern Kentucky. Using the teleconferencing system is especially cost-effective, since a lecturer speaking at one site can reach many more participants, simply by broadcasting to a number of sites.

Pre-Med Project

The Northeast AHEC, in partnership with Morehead State University, provides this program to assist current premed students during their academic career. The three goals of this project are to establish relationships with students who are interested in the field of medicine early in their academic career, increase pre-med students’ awareness of community healthcare needs, and to educate pre-med students about the mission of the Northeast AHEC. This project has led to an increase in the number of physicians locating to the Northeast AHEC region (rural eastern Kentucky).

Rural Residency Training Programs
Residency training opportunities have long been an educational emphasis of the Northeast AHEC. Residencies are post-graduate training programs that prepare health providers for specialized practice, such as surgery, pathology, clinical pharmacy or pediodontics. Dr. Warren Proudfoot, a Morehead surgeon, was instrumental in collaborating with the University of Kentucky's Department of Surgery to establish training experiences at St. Claire Medical Center for surgery residents. Residents in surgery, internal medicine, pathology, family medicine and emergency medicine have clinical experiences for one or two months providing residents an opportunity to experience medical practice in a rural community, As a result of their training experiences in the Northeast AHEC, many physicians have chosen to practice in and around the Morehead area.

Southeast AHEC

Southeast AHEC
180 Taylor Ridge Rd
Stuite 101
Hazard, KY 41701
Phone: (606) 487-0153
Fax: (606) 487-0153

Staff:
Center Director

Community Education

The AHEC, through local health fairs and programs, has responded to its community needs. The Southeast AHEC, in cooperation with extension services, health departments, family resource youth services centers, and other community agencies has assisted in providing the community with pertinent health information. Fun Fair for Mom-To-Be is one program the AHEC provides to the community. Local healthcare providers and specialists present information on safety in the home, proper nutrition, correct safety seat installation, immunizations, breast-feeding, poison control, and the dangers of alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy.

Tooth Fairy

Dental Health with the Tooth Fairy is one of the most popular programs the Southeast AHEC sponsors for preschool and grades one through three. The Tooth Fairy presents age appropriate information on dental hygiene and provides toothbrushes for each child. For many of the children, this is the first toothbrush they have owned and frequently participants request extras for their siblings.

Health Careers Puppets Program

One goal of the Southeast AHEC is to expose students to healthcare opportunities at a very young age and to facilitate interest and preparation for future educational pathways. The Health Careers Puppets Program is just one of the many programs the Southeast AHEC presents to preschool through fourth grade students. Health professions puppets are used to introduce the students to various health career professionals which includes an interactive question and answer session.