Update on Institute Membership

In the fall and early winter of 2014-15, we welcomed our third cohort of Institute Fellows, bringing our total to 102 students.  The distribution of the students between MUSC and USC is as follows:

MUSC: 69 students- 34 MD, 21 Nursing, 13 PA, 1 “Other”

USC: 33 students- 20 MD, 13 Nursing

In addition, we are fortunate to have 35 community-based preceptors from across the state who have joined the Institute.

Monthly Seminars

The core faculty team at MUSC and USC works with students and others in the state to plan monthly seminars that are transmitted across the state via our SCHOOLS network to sites at MUSC, USC and Greenville. These seminars have been inspiring, thought provoking, and engaging.  The videoconferencing equipment, while sometimes challenging, has permitted an exceptional level of collaboration and interaction among students, faculty, and speakers.  Panels of IP healthcare providers, patient care team members from a rural practice, representatives from a major third party payer and state government, as well as business, academic and community leaders have been among the guests.  

Each of the seminars over the past two years has been recorded and can be accessed at: http://vimeopro.com/scahec/ipc.

Recent topics and Upcoming dates:

September 8, 2014: Legislative Advocacy

October 13, 2014: Behavioral Health in Primary Care: What Will be in your Toolbox?

November 10, 2014: New Opportunity for Primary Care: Primary Care and Blue Cross Blue Shield SC

January 12, 2015: Interprofessional Teams in Rural Healthcare Settings

February 9, 2015: Social Determinants of Health/Health Disparities

March 9, 2015: Who Pays for Healthcare?
April 13, 2015: Motivational Interviewing

2nd Annual Institute Spring Retreat April 10-11: “Speed Dating” returns; “Noseeums” NOT allowed!

One of the highlights at the Institute Retreat last year was an opportunity for the Fellows to interact with potential preceptors and mentors in a round-robin manner that was dubbed “Speed Dating”.  Fellows said that this opportunity was “priceless” and provided an opportunity to address questions and concerns.  We will repeat this event during the 2014-15 Annual Spring Retreat that is planned for April 10-11, 2015 at Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort. Warren Newton, MD, MPH, the Executive Director of North Carolina AHEC and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be the keynote speaker.  As a family physician, scholar and teacher, Dr. Newton has an impressive track record of leadership both statewide and nationally in both care redesign and education.   

In addition, we are fortunate to have Tonya Turner MPH, RD, LD, who will be speaking about current nutrition recommendations and the role of the primary care provider in sharing nutrition information. Ms. Turner is a registered dietitian and nutrition specialist on the staff of MUSC Weight Management Center.

It is sure to be a great weekend full of opportunities for networking and professional development…. and this year… we will provide bug spray for the Friday evening meet and greet!!!

Be on the look out for more information from Heather.

New Interprofessional Elective Courses for Institute Students

For years academic medical centers and health professions training programs have worked to develop interprofessional experiences for students with varying degrees of success. Typically these experiences have been orchestrated or based on simulated cases.  Often they are short (one day/ one event) encounters so the students are not able to gain a full appreciation of the team’s collective abilities.  Barriers to moving IP experiences off campus include curricular calendar conflicts (Well, it looks like there may be a week in June when several students can be in the same place at the same time.), space/slot limits at rotation sites (Wait, What? You want me to take 4 students at a time?!), preceptor requirements (Can you precept a medical student, a nursing student, and maybe an OT student?), and housing limitations (No, we cannot put all the students in our spare bedroom!)

Using resources provided by the IPC grant, the IPC Core Team developed a flexible, longitudinal experience for IP teams of Fellows. Starting this spring, a practice-based, patient-centered interprofessional care experience allows two to four students from at least two different disciplines to collaborate with a primary care clinical preceptor and practice to engage a panel of five or six high-risk patients. Students will identify barriers to access and appropriate utilization of clinical services, assess the influences of the social determinants of health for these patients, and identify patient-specific resources and educational materials that can positively influence health behaviors.  Student teams will review charts, interview patients and care givers, make home visits, and learn about the availability of community resources. After identifying barriers and identifying resources for each patient, the student team will make recommendations to improve patient outcomes. 

In addition, Fellows from the MUSC campus have the opportunity to participate in an elective at the Partners in Health clinic located in a community center in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This clinic was established by a team of MUSC advanced practice nurses. They provide care to patients who are uninsured and are dealing with chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, or chronic lung disease. Teams of Institute students from different disciplines have the opportunity to work together with the advanced practice nurses for four consecutive Wednesday clinics to contribute to the care of the patients and to see how an interprofessional team can work to address the needs of patients who have difficulty accessing healthcare services.  

A Request to our Community-based Preceptors

We would like to have your preferred email addresses for future communications from the Institute. Please email Heather Greene at GreeneH@musc.edu with the email you would like us to use. If you have a preference other than email for future communications, please provide us with a mailing address or a fax number if you prefer we use one of those rather than emails.

Reflections from Students and Preceptors

IPC members can post comments and interesting articles using our IPC Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/groups/413657018725711/. But some folks might miss important items given the rapidly changing nature of social media outlets. If you have something to share about the Institute, primary care, health care trends, or other topics, we welcome reflections/comments from Fellows and preceptors that we might include in a future issue of our newsletter. If you would be willing to share your thoughts, please email them to Heather Greene at greeneh@musc.edu.  We look forward to receiving them.

South Carolina Recognizes Corps Community Day

On October 9, health professions students from the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville, and the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Carolinas Campus were invited to attend South Carolina’s recognition of “Corps Community Day.”  A presentation was held on the campus of the Medical University of South Carolina and faculty and students at the other institutions were able to participate via videoconference. This program provided information about the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which exists to increase access to primary care where it is needed most.  The NHSC is a federal program that provides scholarships or repays the educational loans of healthcare providers who agree to serve a minimum of two years in a federally designated health professional shortage area. 

South Carolina AHEC Executive Director David Garr, M.D., served as moderator for the program and shared his experiences practicing in a NHSC site in rural Utah.  Director of the South Carolina Office of Primary Care Mark Jordan provided an overview of the NHSC and shared information on scholarship and loan repayment opportunities.  Next, attendees viewed four short videos that showcased NHSC member stories.  The videos generated awareness about the NHSC and demonstrated the contributions NHSC clinicians are making in their communities.  Sean Boynes, DMD, one of the dedicated professionals featured in the videos, attended the event and discussed the benefits, working environment, gratification, and experiences he has had working at CareSouth Carolina, a NHSC site.

The program was sponsored by the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC), the South Carolina Office of Rural Health, and the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association.  For additional information on the NHSC, please visit the NHSC web page http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/ or contact Mark Jordan, NHSC state coordinator, at (803)898-0766 or jordanma@dhec.sc.gov.  The presentation is available online at http://news.scahec.net/2014/10/national-health-service-corps-community.html.