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Contributed
by Ashley DeVilbiss, program director, West Central Missouri AHEC
The federal- and state-funded program
Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) was created in
1971 by Congress to unite medical professionals with
medically underserved areas. The national AHEC network
includes seven regional Missouri Area Health Education
Centers (MAHEC). The goal of MAHEC is to improve the
health of the region by establishing community and academic
partnerships that will increase the supply and distribution
of health-care professionals practicing in underserved
areas in Missouri . On a statewide level, MAHEC is a
contractor with the Primary Care Resource Initiative
for Missouri (PRIMO) program, which serves as a pipeline
to recruit health-care professionals and to develop
systems of care for underserved areas. Missouri AHEC,
the PRIMO program and the UMKC School of Dentistry are
developing collaborative academic and community relationships
to address the shortage of oral health-care providers
in certain areas of Missouri .
MAHEC regional centers and PRIMO have
established AHEC Career Enhancement Scholars (ACES),
a comprehensive career-planning program for high school,
undergraduate and professional school students interested
in pursuing a career in primary care. MAHECs across
the state are identifying and recruiting students from
shortage areas who have the desire and the ability to
become health professionals. The UMKC School of Dentistry’s
role in the collaborative effort is to involve prospective
dental and dental hygiene students in the school’s special
recruitment activities and programs that include hands-on
workshops, clinical shadowing experiences, DAT preparation,
and mentoring.
PRIMO also helps dental and dental hygiene
students pay for their dental educations. Missouri residents
participating in the ACES program are eligible to apply
to the PRIMO student loan forgiveness program. The program
will “forgive” each year of a student’s PRIMO education
loans for each year of the student’s professional service
in a Missouri health professional shortage area (HPSA).
The PRIMO loan program can pay for almost all of a student’s
dental school tuition. For the academic year 2002-03,
UMKC dental students (class of 2005) William Chouinard,
Stuart Samples and Dez Ziegenhorn became the School
of Dentistry's first PRIMO loan recipients. The school
eventually hopes to have five students from each dental
class, a total of 20, participating in the PRIMO loan
forgiveness program.
The School of Dentistry and MAHEC also
are developing rural rotations to enrich UMKC dental
and dental hygiene PRIMO loan recipients’ clinical experience.
These special clinical rotations, arranged by the School
of Dentistry , will enable PRIMO students to learn important
lessons and valuable strategies for practicing dentistry
in an underserved setting. When the PRIMO loan recipients,
known as PRIMO Scholars, graduate from dental school,
they will be better prepared for their service in an
underserved community. These newly practicing professionals
also can give back to the dental community by becoming
a preceptor and mentor to future students interested
in delivering oral health care in rural communities.
The UMKC School of Dentistry, the Missouri
Area Health Education Center and PRIMO are working together
to provide more dentists and health-care professionals
to the areas of Missouri that need them the most. This
unique collaboration will in-turn provide increased
access to QUALITY healthcare for all Missourians.
You can be a part of these collaborative
efforts by referring interested students in your area
to one of the seven regional AHEC centers located in
Kansas City, St. Joseph, Macon, Springfield, Poplar
Bluff, St. Louis and Rolla; or contact the UMKC School
of Dentistry. I also encourage you to contact me personally
at
(816) 889-5050 x308 or adevilbiss@kclinc.org.
Explorer
Fall 2002 Index
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