Apply Now: AACOM 2022 Osteopathic Health Policy Internship
Kaitlyn Thomas, AACOM’s most recent OHPI, discusses the impact the internship will have on her career and the reasons why all osteopathic medical students should consider applying. Click to watchvideo of her discussing the opportunity’s impact.
AACOM Government Relations (GR) is currently accepting applications for the 2022-2023 Osteopathic Health Policy Internship (OHPI) Program, a unique eight-week virtual internship for osteopathic medical students. Interns will strengthen AACOM GR’s federal advocacy efforts and develop knowledge of federal healthcare and higher education policy. Each OHPI will gain first-hand experience working virtually at the national level where they will be immersed in policy development, analysis and implementation. Applications are due Friday, February 11, 2022 at 11:59 PM ET. Learn more.
Expanded Eligibility Allows More Rural Clinicians to Qualify for Loan Repayment
Date: Thursday, January 13, 2022 Time: 11:00am Pacific, 12:00pm Mountain, 1:00pm Central, 2:00pm Eastern Duration: approximately 60 minutes
Featured Speakers
Tom Morris, Associate Administrator for Rural Health, Health Resources and Services Administration
Mike Shimmens, Executive Director, 3RNET
HRSA BHW Speaker TBD
Are you a rural clinician that needs help paying off your student loans? There’s help. For qualified healthcare clinicians you could receive student loan repayment in return for serving at National Health Services Corps (NHSC) approved sites. Successful NHSC applicants can either receive loan repayment funding while working at a HPSA site, or receive funding while in school in exchange for service in a HPSA after their graduation, depending on the NHSC program. In FY 2020, approximately 14,000 primary, dental, and mental healthcare providers served in National Health Service Corps programs, receiving federal funding in exchange for providing care in a health professional shortage area.
Learn more about each of the three loan repayment programs
NHSC Loan Repayment Program – awards up to $50,000 in exchange for a two-year commitment to provide primary medical, dental or mental/behavioral healthcare at approved sites in high-need, underserved areas. HRSA has removed the two-tier scoring, allowing all applicants to receive up to $50,000 in awards regardless of HPSA score. NHSC LRP recipients are eligible to extend their service and potentially pay off all of their educational debt with continuation contracts.
NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program – provides up to $75,000 in exchange for a three-year commitment to healthcare professionals who provide substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services at NHSC-approved SUD treatment facilities. Clinicians with DATA 2000 Waivers can receive award preference.
This webinar is free. High-speed internet is required to participate. A recording will be available on our website after the live event. Connection details will be emailed to you immediately upon registration.
If you have questions or problems with the registration process, please contact RHIhub Webinars at webinars@ruralhealthinfo.org.
Audio quality prevented uploading a full video, but here are the slides from Dr. Tina Gustin’s presentation on Telehealth. Feel free to contact her for further information.
Dr. Paul Jett with Dr. Joseph Frye discuss “long haul” COVID care
Julie Powers, Executive Director of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, discusses LGBTQ+ issues with patient encounters and diagnoses
Dr. Lee Learman, Dean of Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, outlines ways to correct “Race and Gender Bias in SWVA Medicine”
The Graduate Medical Education Consortium is delighted to partner with the Feeding Southwest Virginia Mobile Market. GMEC has a grant from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture to work with nutrition needs in fixed income communities. The presence of the truck is part of these outreach efforts.
Doctors often tell patients to make better food choices. Given limited access to fresh produce with transportation, and with rising costs of fresh fruits and vegetables, this can be frustrating for both provider and patient. The Consortium is working with several innovations along these lines, and welcomes suggestions from the community.
EVERYONE is welcome to use the mobile market during its visit this coming Tuesday, per the flyer below. There are no requirements for participation and no registration is needed. We will see you at the church parking lot Tuesday.
The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded Rural Residency Planning and Development Program (RRPD) grantees are developing new rural residency programs or Rural Training Tracks (RTT) in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, or Psychiatry.
The National Rural Health Association expressed appreciation for the insights via their newsletter:
COVID conspiracies and African American communities The latest Rural Health Voice podcast hosted by NRHA member Beth O’Connor of the Virginia Rural Health Association focuses on COVID-19 conspiracies in African American communities. Ashley Reynolds Marshall of YWCA of Central Virginia, who coauthored a forthcoming book about COVID-19 conspiracy theories, discusses how mistrust of public health initiatives is sometimes well earned, particularly among minority populations. “It’s actually very serious when people stop to think about how many of these conspiratorial thoughts are actually rooted in historical facts and historical events for communities of color,” Marshall says. NRHA is currently seeking session proposals and original research for presentation at the association’s Health Equity Conference, which is scheduled for May 4 in New Orleans.
CHECK YOUR BARNS! (and garages, workrooms, etc.) Have you got boxes of gloves (latex, plastic, or vinyl), N95 face masks? Those are badly needed and GMEC can make sure they get redistributed. Have you got surgical masks, face shields, plastic dust masks, safety goggles? Those are needed as well.
If you are hand-sewing masks, we also have locations that need those. They are not front-line COVID but are VERY useful for other parts of care. If you would like to sew masks, we can send you patterns.
THANKS and PLEASE check your basements et al. We’ve sent several N95s to small clinics because of kind people willing to share what they have. EVERY donation will help keep our rural communities safe.
Contact director@swvagmec.com so we can tell you where to mail, or collect. Thanks!
The latest Rural Health Voice podcast hosted by NRHA member Beth O’Connor of the Virginia Rural Health Association focuses on COVID-19 conspiracies in African American communities. Ashley Reynolds Marshall of YWCA of Central Virginia, who coauthored a forthcoming book about COVID-19 conspiracy theories, discusses how mistrust of public health initiatives is sometimes well earned, particularly among minority populations. “It’s actually very serious when people stop to think about how many of these conspiratorial thoughts are actually rooted in historical facts and historical events for communities of color,” Marshall says. NRHA is currently 
Southwest Virginia Graduate Medical Education 