THE AHEC SCHOLARS PROGRAM:

Program Components

We want to recognize you for the important training you will complete through your degree or certificate program’s required core coursework. With this in mind, Utah AHEC has reviewed the core coursework from all degree and certificate programs listed on the ELIGIBLE STUDENT PAGE  to ensure that they cover the learning objectives from all Core Topic Areas. See below for the list of the AHEC Scholars Learning Objectives by Core Topic Area. 

REQUIRED CORE TOPICS 
Inter-Professional Education:
  • Work with individuals of other professions to maintain a climate of mutual respect and shared values
  • Use the knowledge of one’s own role and those of other professions to appropriately assess and address the healthcare needs of the patients and populations served
  • Communicate with patients, families, communities, and other health professionals in a responsive and responsible manner that supports a team approach to the maintenance of health and the treatment of disease
  • Apply relationship-building values and the principles of team dynamics to perform effectively in different team roles to plan and deliver patient-/population-centered care that is safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable
Behavioral Health Integration:
  • Describe the concepts and methods for integrating behavioral and social sciences with public health and primary care
  • Recognize, respect, and value the role and expertise of healthcare consumers, family members, and both behavioral health and primary care providers in the process of healthcare delivery
  • Demonstrate ability to link healthcare consumers and family members with other resources, including but not limited to specialty healthcare, rehabilitation and social services, peer support, financial assistance, and transportation, following up to ensure that effective connections have been made
Social Determinants of Health:
  • Describe contributions of economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment to health disparities
  • Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels
  • Identify ways to incorporate population health, community engagement, and advocacy into clinical care
Cultural Competency:
  • Define cultural diversity including language, sexual identity, age, race, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomics, and education.
  • Describe the importance of cultural competency and “cultural humility” in communicating health content to patients and communities.
Practice Transformation:
  • Describe the Quadruple Aim for the health care system: health, quality of care, smart spending, and sustainable workforce
  • Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings
  • Describe organization of delivery of healthcare services in the United States
  • Describe elements of health systems transformed to better achieve the Quadruple Aim, including coordinated, comprehensive, accessible, team based primary care, information systems, population health, continuous improvement, and alternative payment.
New and Emerging Health Issues:
  • Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health
  • Identify the prevalence, current (and future) health impact, and possible responses to an emerging health issue of importance to Utah, such as teen pregnancy, opioid use, teen suicide, migrant health, e‑cigarette use, HPV vaccination, or other emerging clinical or public health problem
Required Cohort Activities
Elective Activities

Required Cohort Activities

As an AHEC Scholar, you will join with a cohort of fellow health professions students in a number of exclusive activities. It is vital for all AHEC Scholars to understand how important they are as a member of the future workforce – and so we have planned required cohort activities that connect you with students outside of your discipline who share your passion AND professionals that want to mentor the next generation of health workforce. All AHEC Scholars are expected to attend all required cohort activities for both years of their participation in the program.

REQUIRED COHORT ACTIVITIES
Attend Annual Fall AHEC Scholars Mentor Dinner Thursday, October 17th, 2019 6PM — 8PM
Read Assigned 2019–2020 Book Club “Dope Sick” *text will be provided to all AHEC Scholars Fall 2019 – Spring 2020 (estimated time commitment: 6 hours/semester)
Attend Semi-Annual “Book Club” Meetings TBD
February 28th, 2019 5:30pm – 7:00pm

Elective Activities

It is important for all AHEC Scholars to learn about the Core Topic Areas in an applied, community-focused setting. As an AHEC Scholar, you will be expected to complete 22 additional hours of training per year from a list of approved didactic activities (see below for a sample of approved applied didactic activities). These activities meet learning objectives of at least 1 Core Topic Area and provide local community context. The Utah AHEC will make sure you stay up-to-date throughout your time in the AHEC Scholars Program on all of the exciting training opportunities in your region that meet this requirement.

If you have any questions about how you can add to this approved list of applied didactic activities, please contact Utah AHEC.

ELECTIVE ACTIVITIES (Complete 22 Hours Annually from an Approved List. Please Note the List Below is only a Sample of Approved Applied Didactic Activities)
Center for Research on Migration & Refugee Integration Lunch and Learn Series Center for Research on Migration & Refugee Integration Refugee Women’s Committee
Utah Public Health Student Ambassadors Presentations Utah Rural Outreach Program Presentations
School of Medicine Student Global Health Conference Global Public Health Grand Rounds
Office of Health Equity and Inclusion Patient Voice Series Public Health Disaster Conference
Rural Health Association of Utah Conference AHEC HPV Vaccination Trainings
Health Insight Quality Improvement Conference Project ECHO

We want to recognize you for making the choice to complete your degree or certificate program’s required field training in an underserved rural or urban setting. AHEC Scholars must complete at least 80 hours of field training that meets all requirements for experiential training listed below. With this in mind, Utah AHEC has verified that all degree and certificate programs listed on the ELIGIBLE STUDENT PAGE  facilitate opportunities for students to meet the AHEC Scholars experiential training expectations.

EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING
Degree-specific required field training meets experiential training requirements when all of the following are met: 
  • Takes place in underserved rural and urban communities (designated Health Professions Shortage Area [HPSA] or Medically Underserved Area [MUS])
  • Recognizes and values inter-professional education (IPE)
  • At least 80 hours in length

To find a list of eligible student programs, please click here.

If your educational program isn’t listed, please contact Tatiana Allen-Webb at Tatiana.Allen@hsc.utah.edu.