Since 2005, Catskill Hudson AHEC has developed and provided annual continuing educational forums for health professionals through our flagship programs. The Nursing Summit and the Emergency Responder Leadership Academy are two of these programs that target very specific audiences in very demanding professions. Both programs are developed in collaboration with a committee of professionals in their respective fields and the topics are carefully selected for their timeliness and relevance to the targeted audience.

Through these programs, Catskill Hudson AHEC is consistently able to accomplish its vision of fostering an 11-county region that proactively assesses, develops, and strengthens a diverse and motivated workforce to meet the needs of each individual community.

NURSING SUMMIT:

In 2004, Catskill Hudson AHEC presented its first Nursing Summit to nurse administrators and nurse educators who wished to work together with Catskill Hudson AHEC to promote the profession of nursing in New York State. Since then, Catskill Hudson AHEC’s Nursing Summit has attracted all levels of the nursing profession, as well as healthcare professionals, health professions educators, and health professions students by providing an educational forum to explore topics of relevance and critical issues facing nursing and healthcare professionals today and supporting the continued development of and within the nursing profession.

EMERGENCY RESPONDER LEADERSHIP ACADEMY:

Catskill Hudson AHEC, in concert with a number of Emergency Service Providers, custom tailor each Emergency Responder Leadership Academy with timely topics and critical issues affecting emergency service personnel and management. Throughout the years, the Emergency Responder Leadership Academy has continued to develop unique learning experiences presented by experienced leaders in emergency response. Topics continue to focus on professional development in areas that are critical to every emergency services long-term success, such as, administration, supervision, recruitment and retention, public relations, budgeting, service excellence, strategic planning, communication, and safety, as well as changing agency roles and preparedness for future challenges.

HEALTH PROFESSIONS SEMINAR:

The purpose of the Health Professions Seminar is to provide an educational forum to discuss various vital topics of healthcare delivery and the well-being of communities as a whole. Topics include increasing the knowledge base of healthcare providers and support staff caring for LGBT patients and to encourage adoption of LGBT culture-friendly practices throughout the healthcare community, and prevention/treatment of opioid use and substance use disorders to name a few.

The intended audience for this program is physicians, nurses, social workers and all other health care professionals (clinical or non-clinical) who provide health-related services. Presentation topics relate to both healthcare services as well as the patient care experience.

Continuing Education

A Sampling of Catskill Hudson AHEC Programs

Continuing Education Programs

Community Outreach

Student Health Career Exploration

This project is supported in part by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Grant number U77HP16459 and project title New York State Area Health Education Center System. The information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government

Catskill Hudson Area Health Education Center (AHEC)598 State Route 299, Highland, New York 12528

(845) 883-7260 (Tel)(845) 883-7837 (Fax)www.CHAHEC.org

Medical Student Programs

AHEC Scholars

AHEC Scholars program is a two-year academic program that provides health professional students with community learning opportunities working with some of Hudson Valley’s most vulnerable, marginalized, and medically fragile patients in underserved and medically disadvantaged areas. These students will become part of an interprofessional team under faculty guidance to gain insight into the root causes that contribute to clinical and social complexities that lead select patients to repeatedly seek care in high cost emergency/hospital settings. AHEC Scholars students receive in-depth training on topics including motivational interviewing, social determinants of health, communication, and advocacy (to name a few) to help them improve care delivery system outcomes going forward. The program is based on a “hotspotting” model pioneered by the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

AHEC Scholars students must be explicitly recruited from among minority/underserved student groups. They are required to be currently matriculated into an accredited health profession training/education program, be interested in improving healthcare quality for all individuals regardless of patient and/or community background, and be able to devote a minimum of two hours a week (average) to the project. Each student enrolled in AHEC Scholars will receive stipend agreements as part of the program.

Health Profession Rural Summer Immersion Program

The Health Profession Rural Summer Immersion Program is a unique and exciting opportunity for multidisciplinary students to participate in a 12-day clinical program in a rural community setting. These students experience the benefits and rewards of rural practice while learning about the unique components of health care in a rural environment. MD, DO, PA, and DDS students will rotate between nine rural medical facilities. The rotations at our partner health care facilities focus on the unique components of rural medical practice, including:

• Exposure to rural clinicians in several primary care and specialty areas • Geriatric Medicine• Emergency Medicine• Rehabilitative Health Care• Home Health Care• Discharge Planning and Transition of Care• Migrant Populations

Academic partners of the Health Profession Rural Summer Immersion Program include Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine; Quinnipiac University, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine; University of Connecticut School of Medicine; and Marist School of Science, Physician Assistant Program.

Student Career Exploration Programs Pre-Medical and Medical Student Programs

Billie’s Medical Adventures (Pre-K-Kindergarten)Designed to familiarize pre-school and elementary-age children with common health screenings while introducing them to various health careers through puppet play. During each pre-scripted puppet show, Billie will help depict a typical medical screening that children experience so they will be able to recognize various health professionals, understand what it is they do, and familiarize them with experiences they may encounter during a routine office visit.

Health Career Kids (K-6th Grade)Health Career Kids is a collection of age-appropriate games that are designed to reinforce healthy habits and introduce K-6 students to a variety of health careers while familiarizing them with health procedures and medical terminology through attention-grabbing, interactive activities.

Medical Mind Benders (6th-8th Grade)Medical Mind Benders is a complete collection of 14 fun, interactive games and activities that combines interactive exercises with a “medical twist.” These games are designed to strengthen student word association, inter-personal workplace skills, cognitive memory and problem- solving skills, while introducing them to an extensive variety of health careers and familiarizing them with health terminology.

Scrubs Club (8th - 12th Grade)Scrubs Club is a complete, health career awareness program designed to introduce students to various health occupations and engage them in activities to help them understand the real-life roles, responsibilities, and rewards of serving in the health field and possibly begin to think about a health occupation as a career goal. Students achieve a better understanding of the professions of a health provider through the program’s relatable lesson plans hands-on activities, thoughtful exercises, and meaningful field trips as they virtually “test drive” various health occupations and procedures.

The Scrubs Club curriculum binder and accompanying toolkit contain all lesson plans and materials needed and the instructors do not have to have clinical experience to facilitate this program. The easy-to-follow lesson plans and the flexibility of the Scrubs Club curriculum will accommodate each individual instructor’s needs. To date, the Scrubs Club curriculum has been utilized as a longitudinal program, as a multi-high school collaboration, integrated into daily class curriculum as well as with at-risk youth programs, afterschool programs, community-based career workshops, BOCES, Science & Technology Entry Programs (STEP), and other Area Health Education Centers throughout the United States

Scrubs Club not only meets New York State Career Development and Occupational Studies Core Curriculum and Learning Standards; it has also been awarded the 2016 National AHEC Organization (NAO) Center Award for Excellence in Health Careers Recruitment and the 2016 New York State Association for Rural Health (NYSARH) Outstanding Rural Health Program of the Year Award.

For additional program information, please visit: www.chahec.org

or contact our staff directly at (845) 883-7260

You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/chahec/