2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Hands on RI health care
Med School trains students in low-income health centers
Nandini Jayakrishna
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Metro
While some medical students spend all their time buried in books, Alpert Medical School first- and second-year students are getting real-world experience working in under-served communities.
Since winning a $2.6 million federal grant in 2004, the Alpert Medical School has established a program to educate, train and recruit students and healthcare professionals to work in low-income communities in Rhode Island.
The Area Health Education Center program, based out of the Med School, has branches in Woonsocket, Cranston and Newport that work with community health centers, clinics and hospitals on projects and training workshops for healthcare providers, said Robert Trachtenberg, associate director of the program. Trachtenberg said the AHEC program gives students the opportunity to "get exposure to community health centers in underserved communities (and learn) about compelling issues in the health care industry."
The center gives grants to students in health-related studies for projects and to local clinics to support their operations. Staff at the Newport center are working on two projects to examine respiratory diseases prevalent among public-housing residents in Newport County, identify the sources of pollution in surrounding areas and develop interventions, said Marilyn Moy, executive director of the Newport center.
Currently, there are about 215 AHECs in 47 states that receive funding from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Trachtenberg said, adding that the Rhode Island AHEC program is "one of the newer ones." Last December, the Medical School received a renewal grant of $3.2 million from HHS to continue and expand the program, Trachtenberg said. The AHEC program also receives support from the Med School, in addition to the grant.
Trachtenberg said the Med School "contributes a great deal" to the program, providing "in-kind, administrative support." Trachtenberg, Associate Dean of Medicine Arthur Frazzano and Roni Phipps, community-based mentor and cooridinator, staff the center's main location at the Med School.
Since winning a $2.6 million federal grant in 2004, the Alpert Medical School has established a program to educate, train and recruit students and healthcare professionals to work in low-income communities in Rhode Island.
The Area Health Education Center program, based out of the Med School, has branches in Woonsocket, Cranston and Newport that work with community health centers, clinics and hospitals on projects and training workshops for healthcare providers, said Robert Trachtenberg, associate director of the program. Trachtenberg said the AHEC program gives students the opportunity to "get exposure to community health centers in underserved communities (and learn) about compelling issues in the health care industry."
The center gives grants to students in health-related studies for projects and to local clinics to support their operations. Staff at the Newport center are working on two projects to examine respiratory diseases prevalent among public-housing residents in Newport County, identify the sources of pollution in surrounding areas and develop interventions, said Marilyn Moy, executive director of the Newport center.
Currently, there are about 215 AHECs in 47 states that receive funding from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Trachtenberg said, adding that the Rhode Island AHEC program is "one of the newer ones." Last December, the Medical School received a renewal grant of $3.2 million from HHS to continue and expand the program, Trachtenberg said. The AHEC program also receives support from the Med School, in addition to the grant.
Trachtenberg said the Med School "contributes a great deal" to the program, providing "in-kind, administrative support." Trachtenberg, Associate Dean of Medicine Arthur Frazzano and Roni Phipps, community-based mentor and cooridinator, staff the center's main location at the Med School.