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Southeast PA AHEC Newsletter

Spring 2021

First Cohort of AHEC Scholars From Southeastern Pennsylvania Graduate

Congratulations to the first cohort of Pennsylvania AHEC Scholars from the Southeastern Pennsylvania region who graduated this spring! Our region’s graduates spent the past two years preparing for their chosen careers by participating in Pennsylvania AHEC’s extracurricular program. These students have been primed to enter an interprofessional healthcare workforce and to provide continuously improving care in a rapidly changing health care system through didactic and community-based experiential activities that focused on topic areas related to individual and population health, health care delivery, and health outcomes.

Scholars from Southeastern Pennsylvania represent a number of colleges and universities and have pursued a variety of health concentrations. The class of 2021 graduates are:

Allyson Bee- Nursing, Neumann University

Katelyn Martinez- Respiratory Therapy, West Chester University

Nathaniel Meeks- Respiratory Therapy, West Chester University

Gianna Rapposelli- Respiratory Therapy, West Chester University

Jessica Sharkey- Respiratory Therapy, West Chester University

Carrie Smith- Nursing, West Chester University

Monica Woloshin- Pharmacy, Thomas Jefferson University

The 2021-2023 cohort is now accepting applicants. To learn more, visit www.paahecscholars.org.

Pennsylvania AHEC SEARCH Academy Concludes For The School Year

The first ever Pennsylvania AHEC SEARCH Academy session has concluded for the school year. AHECs across Pennsylvania came together to create a statewide, virtual health career exploration program for high school students. Five events were held from January to May with 139 total students in attendance.

Each event presented students with information about career paths to different health careers and included a panel of professionals who shared their experience. Every session also had a hands-on learning activity designed to give students a way to sample each career remotely. This year, the five events focused on physicians, physician assistants, oral health professionals, physical therapists, athletic trainers, emergency medical service responders, and nursing professionals.

Students feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the Pennsylvania AHECs plan to expand the program next year to include more health professions and reach more students across the state.

Mental Health First Aid Training

On May 11th, 2021, SE PA AHEC staff facilitated Adult Mental Health First Aid for pharmacy students at the University of the Sciences. Like traditional First Aid, Mental Health First Aid teaches lay and professional participants what to do in an emergency. Participants learn to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders. The evidence-based curriculum has been shown to increase participant knowledge of resources available to persons experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge as well as signs, symptoms, and risk factors for mental illness and addiction.

If you are interested in having SE PA AHEC facilitate the one-day, 8 hour Mental Health First Aid program for your organization, please contact Christine Polit at cpolit@sepaahec.org.

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