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Montana AHEC Regions
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Dear (Contact First Name),
Welcome to the Summer 2012 issue of Rural Health Delivery, an update on the programs and activities of the Montana AHEC (Area Health Education Center) system and the Montana Office of Rural Health. Together, these organizations are working to address the healthcare workforce needs of the state and improve the health of all Montanans. Your support, interest, and involvement in this work is greatly appreciated! |
| Program Office Update - MSU Bozeman
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Oral Health Exploration | |
The first time, the Bozeman MedStart Camp had an Oral Health component and it was a big hit! Students took dental impressions on themselves and then poured stone into their impressions creating an anterior maxillary and mandibular model of their teeth.A great show and tell item for friends and family back home!Students also experienced the stickiness of a fluoride varnish and learned some dental anatomy, terminology, and pathology.The two hour program wrapped up by playing a game of dental jeopardy to test what students learned.
Upcoming Event: Lorie Becker RDH, MS will be presenting "School Oral Health Screenings & Basic Screening Survey Training " on Thursday September 20th at 10:00 a.m. for the Montana Dental Hygienists Association Annual Meeting to be held in Bozeman, MT. For registration information contact the Montana Dental Hygienists Association at www.montanadha.org.
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| South Central MT AHEC Update - Dillon
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Staff Changes in SC AHEC | |
There have been a few changes with staffing in our office starting the month of July. Shay, our Oral Health Recruiter, accepted a position with the Lima School District as of July 9th. Beth Ann has taken over dental recruitment and is now the Allied & Oral Health Recuiter.
With starting her new role this month, Beth Ann traveled to schools in Oregon and Idaho with programs in Allied and Oral health. She spoke with many students, faculty, and staff about Montana positions and loan repayment options.
Kyla, our Adminsitrative Assistant, will be supporting both recruitment and K-12 programs. To contact Kyla (Helle) Keith: [email protected] 406-683-2790 ex 105
For information on Montana Connections, our referral based recruitment program, please contact:
Lisa Benzel, Physican & Mid-Level Recruiter
[email protected], 406-683-2790 ex 102
Beth Ann Martin, Allied & Oral Health Recruiter
[email protected], 406-683-2790 ex 103 |
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MedStart - MSU Bozeman | |
The 2012 Bozeman MedStart welcomed 30 students throughout the state to the MSU campus the week of June 24th. Curriculum sessions during the week included activities such as sheep heart dissection, blood typing, suturing pigs' feet, job shadowing, casting, splinting, nursing labs, taking blood pressures, anatomoy with the cadaver lab, aging sensitivity, completmentary & alternative medicine, and oral health. College Support sessions included topics such as financial aid, campus tour, interview skills, resumes, and career exploration. Recreation sessions included a movie night, a hike to the "M", and trips to Music on Main Street, and Bozeman Hot Springs.
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Montana Hosts R/UOP Students | |
Montana facilities and our willing and talented preceptors again hosted 30 R/UOP (Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program)students out of the 123 total students throughout the WWAMI region. The students stretched from Eureka to Baker and Dillon to Glasgow and the experiences were just as far-reaching and varied. All students were provided excellent clinical opportunities that allowed them to interact with patients, as well as community events that provided many of them their first opportunity at a rural lifestyle. Charles Schulz, placed in Wolf Point, was excited to work the Stampede burger booth with his preceptor, Dr. Mark Zilkoski, cooking the infamous Catholic Burgers. Serena Nelson, in Dillon, spent the first portion of her placement in the "old" hospital and took an active part in the grand opening of the new Barrett Hospital & Healthcare during the latter half. Treavor Robison, had a varied encounter in Ronan, working with a Family Medicine/OB preceptor but also being offered some time in both the OR and ER. And Oren Gersten woke up one morning to see hundreds of traditional teepees set up outside his back door, a tradition during Indian Days in Browning. All of these great encounters provide the WWAMI medical students an opportunity to experience rural practices, Montana quality of life, and primary care in its truest form. Some of these placements even mold the students into rural, primary care providers. We'd like to thank all the preceptors that make Montana R/UOP possible!
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| Eastern MT AHEC Update - Billings
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Eastern MT R/UOP |
Eastern Montana AHEC is honored to have eleven R/UOP students spending a month in a rural eastern Montana community at the local healthcare facility.
- Michael Barton (Rosebud Health Care Center-Forsyth)
- Luke Carson (Fallon Medical Complex-Baker)
- Meghan Combs (Wheatland Memorial Healthcare-Harlowton)
- Morgan Cunningham (Central Montana Medical Center-Lewistown)
- Matthew Hartman (Red Lodge Mountain View Clinic-Red Lodge)
- Kacy Herron (Billings Clinic Miles City-Miles City)
- Amanda Hu (Phillips County Hospital & Family Health Clinic-Malta)
- Karissa Hughes (Glasgow Clinic-Glasgow)
- Michael Keating (Billings Clinic Columbus-Columbus)
- Ben Krasin (Hardin Clinic-Hardin)
- Charles Schultz (Listrud Rural Health Clinic-Wolf Point)
We are very grateful to the following physicians for taking time to teach these students: Drs. William Anderson, Darryl Espeland, Charlotte Jutila, Laura Bennett, Brad Fouts, Susan Gallo, Edwin Medina, Anne Millard, David Kane, Kirsten Morissette, Ashley Quanbeck, and Mark Zilkoski.
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DO & WWAMI Track Students |
Eastern Montana AHEC welcomed three new third year DO students from Pacific Northwest University (PNWU) who started their rotations on July 2nd. Students are: Catherine Colpitts from So. Lake Tahoe, CA; Whitney Jolitz from Hillsboro, Ohio and Emily Morrison from Helena, MT. They are joining four fourth year students: Marcus Birky, Hallie Bischoff, Dean Shandy and Jeri Lynn Williamson.
July 9th brings five track students to the Billings WWAMI program. They are Teresa Blaskovich from Butte, Thomas Gallagher and Sean Jones from Billings, John Manning from Bozeman and Kale Knudson from Great Falls. They are joining fourth year returning track students Talya Lorenz, Steven Clements and Jason Hooten.
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MedStart - MSU Billings |
In its second year, the MedStart Billings Camp was a great success!
30 students from across the state arrived in Billings on June 24th to brave the heat and explore healthcare careers. Throughout the week students bonded over educational as well as recreational experiences and traded many tactics to stay cool in the 100+ degree weather. Students learned about a myriad of healthcare careers and training options such as surgical technology, nursing, radiologic technology, paramedicine, public health, MD, physician assisting, and many more. They also learned useful  healthcare skills such as taking basic vitals, CPR, emergency preparedness, and wilderness medicine. Highlights of the week included job shadowing, emergency preparedness drills in hazmat suits, and a mock rescue in Red Lodge. According to one student, "job shadowing was an awesome learning experience because we got to learn about the careers first-hand. It was fun and you didn't know what to expect, especially in the ICU." During the Mock Rescue, students were lead to 3 victims of a hiking accident by a real search dog; they applied the skills they learned during the week to stabilize the patients and transport them to safety. One student said, "My favorite learning experience of the week was the mock rescue because we weren't completely told what to do. We just got to think things through and decide what we wanted to do about it." Students left with great impressions of the healthcare field, saying, "After learning about how many different careers there are in the healthcare field, I decided it is definitely the right field for me" and "I definitely wanted a career in healthcare, but now I have a more specified field I want to go into."
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| North Central MT AHEC Update - Fairfield
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Liberty Medical Center Health Fair |
 Liberty Medical Center held their annual Health Fair on May 30th in Chester, MT. This year North Central AHEC coordinated a Health Fair Scavenger Hunt with LMC to help make learning about health even more fun! The health fair was a great success!
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MedStart - University of Great Falls |
The North Central Montana Area Health Education Center (AHEC) hosted the first Great Falls MedStart Summer Camp from July 8-13, 2012. While living in the University of Great Falls' dorms and being immersed in campus life, the 30 students spent two days job shadowing at nine area healthcare facilities, explored the Great College Montana State University's Simulated Hospital, attended college planning sessions, and got hands on experience with organ dissections! The students also became CPR and First Aid certified, participated in two community service projects, and enjoyed multiple recreational activities throughout the Great Falls area.
The Great Falls MedStart Camp received statewide press coverage:
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| Western MT AHEC Update - Missoula
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RBH - Primary Care Collaborative |
WMT-AHEC secured a HRSA grant to assist in the management of the Rural Behavioral Health-Primary Care Collaborative which places a pre-licensure clinical social worker and post-doc psychology graduate in critical access hospitals. WMT-AHEC recruits the CAH's and the behavioral health specialists, and secures UM faculty to provide distance technology supervision. Behavioral health services are seriously lacking in rural areas; the program has been well received in Libby and will be in place in Deer Lodge and Plains, by Fall 2013. Since November 2011, the social worker and post-doc psychology grad at St. John's Lutheran Hospital in Libby have seen 1,036 patients.
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Certified Outpatient Coding Course |
Western MT AHEC along with The Missoula County Public School Lifelong Learning Center have partnered for the second offering of the Certified Outpatient Coding course, using the Vidyo distance technology. The course will be offered September 11th through November 10th, Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:30 to 9:30 PM, plus 3 Saturday sessions. This 84 hour training program will provide the most current information related to medical coding and follows an approved curriculum to prepare individuals for the CPC� certification exam. The registration deadline is August 20th Please contact Anna Buckner at [email protected] for more information.
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MedStart - University of Montana |
 Twenty-four students attended the 2012 Missoula MedStart Camp which ran from June 24-29, on The University of Montana Campus. In addition to touring Rocky Mountain Laboratories and Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital in Hamilton, students job shadowed at Pruyn Veterinary, Providence Saint Patrick Hospital, Community Medical Center, Missoula Bone and Joint, New Directions Physical Therapy, Dragonfly Rose Naturopathic, Partnership Health Center, and The Curry Health Center. A highlight of the week's activities was watching the Missoula Osprey (minor league baseball) take away a 20-0 win over the Billings Mustangs.
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AHEC - The Basics
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The Montana AHEC mission is to improve the supply and distribution of healthcare professionals, with an emphasis on primary care, through community/academic educational partnerships, in order to increase access to quality healthcare. We work to connect students to healthcare careers, professionals to communities, and communities to better health. To fulfill our mission, we focus on these key areas:
1) Programs and resources for K-12 students and teachers to generate interest
in healthcare professions 2) Placement and support of health profession students in rural rotations throughout the state 3) Recruitment and retention of qualified healthcare professionals to Montana
4) Continuing Education programs for practicing healthcare professionals
Montana has 4 regional AHEC offices - Eastern, located in Billings- South Central, located in Dillon - Western, located in Missoula - and the North Central, located in Fairfield. |
Please contact us with your comments, ideas, questions or projects you'd like to see highlighted in future issues of this e-newsletter.
Thank you for the work you do every day to improve the healthcare industry and the health of all Montanans!! |
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