Extending Academic Resources to Medically Underserved Communities

The concept of service/learning is now extensively used by AHEC as a means to accomplish its educational objectives for health professions students while delivering services to underserved populations. An AHEC service/learning program is accomplished through the extension and outreach efforts of academic faculty and students to community-based health programs that provide care to underserved populations. By having a presence in local communities, AHECs have been able to promote community health and serve as vehicles for matching the educational needs of health professions faculty and students with the health care needs of local communities. Through these academic-community partnerships, AHECs have been able to produce a significant number of needed health services and community health projects.

• COM Faculty Service
  
  Jefferson and Madison Health Departments
  The mission of Jefferson and Madison County Health Departments is to promote and protect the health and safety of all citizens and visitors to Jefferson and Madison County through the delivery of high quality public health services and health care standards. FSU COM faculty members provide clinical service at Jefferson and Madison County Health Departments and train medical students at these sites.
  
  Neighborhood Health Services
  The FSU College of Medicine faculty members from the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health work at Neighborhood Health Services (NHS), an indigent care clinic in the center of Tallahassee. NHS serves the indigent and homeless population of Leon and surrounding counties. One faculty member serves on the Board of Directors and Chairs the Clinical Services Committee. Other faculty members provide care for the patients and teach students at the clinic. Through its partnership with FSU College of Medicine, Neighborhood Health Services has been able to increase its patient care capacity by 50 percent. In addition, the AHEC Program Director serves as an Executive Committee member for the NHS Board of Directors.
  
  Refuge House
  The mission of the Refuge House is to provide direct services to battered women, their children and sexual assault survivors, as well as to work to eliminate the conditions in society that allow such violence to continue. FSU COM faculty members provide clinical services at Refuge House and train medical students at this site.
  
  TMH Family Practice Residency Program
  FSU COM faculty members provide clinical services at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and train medical students at this site.
   
• Community Health Scholars
  The Community Health Scholars program provides service learning experiences in rural and medically underserved communities for rising second year medical students. Proposed projects are submitted by “project directors” representing community organizations and/or clinical sites and involve students in becoming a part of the community's solution to some of its most pressing health needs. One historic Community Health Scholars project, selected each year, is the Gadsden County Migrant Summer School in partnership w/ the Panhandle Area Education Consortium (PAEC). Up to 300 children attending K-8th grade receive a thorough health screening and are treated in response to their health assessment. Medical students assist faculty with the health screening and offer health education programs in all of the classes. Community Health Scholar applications are competitive and interviews required.