Hello Scholars,

I hope you all have had some time to enjoy what NH offers in the summer.  Soak up that sunshine while you can. 

It’s also that time of year when we will be adding new Scholars from the Geisel School of Medicine—I look forward to connecting with you all!

Best wishes,
Kate

NH AHEC Health Service Scholars Opportunities

LUNCH and LEARN Zooms

These are developed especially for NH AHEC Health Service Scholars. Please grab your lunch and join us for an interprofessional discussion with local and state-wide experts excited to share their experiences. If you don’t have a full hour, join us for as much of the session as you can fit in.

Understanding Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and Cultural Competency Needs in New Hampshire

TBD, Week of September 20, 2021 (12:30–1:30 pm)
Location: Zoom link to be shared with Scholars via calendar invite

New Hampshire has become more diverse in recent years, with the portion of the population that does not identify their race as white reaching 10 percent in 2018.  However, while non-Hispanic white residents make up 90 percent of the population, they constituted only 74 percent of identified COVID-19 infections as of June 23, 2020.  More than one in five hospitalizations were of someone who identified as something other than non-Hispanic white. This session will allow us to explore health disparities in the state, and offers a better understanding of the cultural competency tools that are invaluable in addressing them.

Presenters:
Paula Smith, MBA, EdD.  Director, Southern NH AHEC; Kile Adumene, RN.  Director, Manchester Community Action Coalition

Upcoming Live Events

These events are open to all and can be “counted” toward NH AHEC HS Scholar activity hours.

Immigrant Health Equity in the Granite State

Tuesday, August 31, 2021 (4:00 pm)

Location: Live via Zoom.  Registration Link 

Virtual Presenters: Organized by New Futures

A panel of local activists will share their lived experiences, advocacy efforts, and what we can do year-round to support immigrant health in the Granite State. 

Volunteer!

Community opportunities…

WISE Volunteer Training Program: Foundations of Gender-Based Violence

This 15-hour training introduces participants to the cultural foundations of gender-based violence. We reflect on our history, current norms, and explore the realities of domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking. Takes place through a combo of Zoom and home study.

Tuesday and Thursday evenings the first 3 weeks in October.

Please contact volunteers@wiseuv.org for more information.

 

Experiential and clinical learning…

COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics

The North Country Health Consortium/Northern NH AHEC is conducting COVID-19 vaccination clinics in ‘the north country’ and they rely upon volunteers to help with these efforts.  Scholars helping out must be trained as Medical Reserve Corp volunteers— a virtual process that we can assist you with getting started.  The upcoming clinics include:

If you are interested and need assistance, please let me know and I will help you figure out which MRC unit to connect with and what training is required—there are several across the state.  Find the Upper Valley Medical Reserve Corps link here.

Participation Tracking: What, How, Why?

NH AHEC HS Scholars is funded by HRSA, the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  HRSA is the primary federal agency for improving health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable.  This means, of course, that with the funding comes the need to report on your activities.  We aim to make this easy.  Here’s how it works:

1. Apply to the NH AHEC Scholars program here.  Give us a few sentences that describe your interest in doing so.  Answer a few questions.  Approx time needed: 5 min.
2. Once we review and accept your application, we will email you a baseline survey to gather information about you as you begin the program.  Approx time needed: 7-10 min.
3. You check out our website, with recorded sessions and other didactic resources.
4. We will email you regular newsletters about upcoming opportunities that we organize or that we think are of interest and relevant.   
5. Attended a session organized or advertised by the AHEC?  Great!  We want to know.  There are two ways to report it:
   • Go to the link of the event on our calendar, and in the description of the event, click on the Activity Log.  Give us a brief response to our questions.  Approx eval time needed: 5 min.                 
     
     -OR-
   • Keep track of it on your own, and report your attendance in the December or June Participation Tracker Survey, which will be emailed to you.
   • If you report some activities via the Activity Log and some via the Participation Tracker Survey, that’s good too!
6. Attended a non-AHEC session pertaining to one of the following topics?  Also great!  Report it via the Activity Log, as well as the emailed Participation Tracker Survey, as above.
   • Rural health care
   • Care for medically underserved populations, including those in urban areas
   • Primary care
   • Behavioral health integration into primary care
   • Telehealth
   • Substance use disorders and treatment
   • Social determinants of health
   • COVID-19
   • Addressing health disparities and inequities in NH
   • Interprofessional education and health care delivery
   • Practice transformation
7. Did you do community volunteering?  You rock. Seriously. Tell us via the Activity Log or the Participation Tracker Survey—no matter what the activity.  Let us decide if we will be able to report it for AHEC purposes.
8. Tell us about your clinical work, including volunteering, shadowing, and interning, even that which is required by your academic program.  Report it via the Activity Log or the Participation Tracker Survey.

Questions?  Let me know!

Scholars’ Bios

Add your bio to our Scholars’ page! Please forward a photo (png, jpeg fine; as high a resolution as possible) and a brief introduction to yourself (150–250 words). You are welcome to re-use something you’ve already used elsewhere!