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By Cathy Humphrey
What is the West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships? It's a good question and it deserves a thorough answer.
The WV Rural Health Education Partnerships is celebrating ten years of service in health education to the citizens of West Virginia. This service includes partnering with the state legislature, state, public and private health professions schools, and local communities to bring about a unique approach to educating tomorrow's health care professionals and introducing them to rural areas of the state.
In addition to providing housing and orientation to rotating students, Interdisciplinary sessions, community service and research are the three key components of the RHEP program. Most interdisciplinary class sessions are case-based and allow the many different health care professionals to work together learning the best options for patient care. Medical, dental, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical therapy, nursing, and family nurse practitioner students work together under the leadership of a licensed professional to compare notes on solving actual case problems. They learn how to treat the patient by working together as a healthcare team.
The community service aspect of the RHEP program introduces the students to different areas of the state, and offers significant time and experience in rural academic and community based settings.
The research component of the program allows students to participate in various research projects such as the CARDIAC (Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities).
The state is divided into 13 consortias. Our consortium, Little Kanawha Area RHEP, covers six counties: Calhoun, Gilmer, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler, and Wirt. We are overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors who are: Susie Barnes, Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center; Lewis Cottrill, Ritchie County Community Member; Nancy Engelke, Wirt County Community Member; Glen Fowler, Calhoun County Community Member; Sue Jones, Calhoun County Community Member; Anita Mattingly, Sistersville General Hospital; Jeanne Mason, Tyler County Community Member; Eric Peter, Tyler County Community Member; Debbie Thompson, Pleasants County Community Member; Alison Witte, Gilmer County Community Member; Phyllis Wolfe, Ritchie County Community Member; Short Bumgardner, Ritchie County Community Member (ex-officio); and Dr. James LeVos (ex-officio). These board members donate many hours to monitor and oversee the operation of the Consortium business. This includes budget, training, student housing, and interactions with other state and educational institutions.
From June 1, 2000 - May 31, 2001, The Little Kanawha Area Consortium oversaw the rotations of 36 students for a total of 200 weeks. These included medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, physician assistant, nursing, and nurse practitioner students. The students, while visiting the area, are involved in many different community service projects that allow the students to meet our local residents and contribute to the overall health education of the residents. Some of the community service projects that students have provided are school-based and senior-based health screenings, health fairs, and daycare dental instruction.
Providers taking part in the RHEP program in Calhoun County are the Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center which offers rotations for internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency room, geriatrics, physician assistants, nursing, and nurse practitioners; and Dick Jarvis, J & B Drug Store, with a rotation for pharmacy.
Calhoun County has several former RHEP students who are now practicing in our area. They include, Mark Hewitt, PA-C, Alan Humphrey, PA-C, Dean Kendzeria, PA-C, (physician assistant); Leslie Kennedy, Pharmacist; Teresa Ritchie, FNP (family nurse practitioner); and Jason Wible, Nursing.
The tenth anniversary of the RHEP program is celebrated in the enrichment of the student's medical training and by the fact the program has been successful in attracting the young medical professionals to live and work in the rural areas of West Virginia. A personal welcome from community members is always great!
Feel free to contact our office in Grantsville if you have and questions, comments, or suggestions for the RHEP program. Anna Reno, Site Coordinator, 354-7251 or Cathy Humphrey, Secretary. |
