Welcome to the latest AHEC Newsletter with valuable health and education information!
Welcome to the South Texas AHECe-Notes for April 2020
Learning Opportunities | Future Events
The South Texas AHEC Program would like to extend a very sincere THANK YOUto all of our students, former students, preceptors, healthcare workers, and community partners, who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Your service is deeply appreciated and admired during this critical time.
Photographed: South Central AHEC Scholar, Janna Reeves and her colleagues.
Southwest Border AHEC helps with 2020 Census: Introducing the Maverick County Census Coalition that will be working very diligently to get everyone counted! Feel free to reach out to us with your questions and concerns.
Homero Balderas- City of Eagle Pass Commissioner Ruiz- Maverick County Juliet Martinez- Martinez- Methodist Healthcare Ministries Claudia Valdez- Southwest Texas Junior College Crystal Romo- Kickapoo Tribe of Texas Susy Perez- Eagle Pass ISD Sandra Vela- Southwest Border AHEC Karem Hiarmes- Southwest Border AHEC Hilda Robles- Southwest Border AHEC Rogelio Almaguer- Southwest Border AHEC Brenda Hoffman- Hoffman- Southwest Border AHEC
Stop the Bleed Seminar: Students from Southwest Border AHEC Scholars and Southwest Texas Junior College Registered Nurse program provided a STOP THE BLEED seminar to various classes at CC Winn High School. Scholars trained and educated students on how to stop a bleed before professional help arrives. The event will take place at CC Winn High School on March 13, 2020.
Intellectual Developmental Disabilities Awareness Event: On March 9th, 2020, Southwest Border AHEC joined Camino Real Intellectual Developmental Disabilities Department to advocate for individuals with intellectual disabilities. AHEC Scholars provided BMI screenings to all participants. The event took place in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Welcome Stefanie Yanez: We would like to welcome our new UTSA dietetic intern for the month Stefanie Yanez, who will spend a total of 3-weeks with us! Stefanie has been working diligently on creating recipes and nutrition pamphlets to use for our Salud al Pasito programming. Despite the challenges of working from home, Stefanie has been a great asset to our team, and we look forward to her time with us!
CE Grant: Dr. Zenong Yin, with UTSA, and Dr. Fernando Martinez, with the Alamo Colleges, in partnership with South Central AHEC, was recently awarded the IIMS Community Engagement Grant! The group will work on expanding the Salud al Pasito nutrition program in the Westside of San Antonio. We would like to congratulate everyone on the team and look forward to implementing the program!
Mental Health in the Face of COVID-19:We are facing challenging times and lots of uncertainty. This handout is aimed at providing some easy to follow recommendations for protecting your mental health and that of your loved ones during this time of need. We hope that you find this information helpful and comforting. Please share it with anyone in your family or community who may need it. Thank you to Dr. Luz Garcini for sharing these great resources! We are stronger together!
National Latinx Psychological Association resources: English and Español.
Telemedicine ECHO: In response to the necessity of a number of clinics and providers having to implement telemedicine at short notice, the UT Health San Antonio ECHO Program, in partnership with the UT System Virtual Health Network is launching a COVID-19 Telemedicine Implementation ECHO. Sessions are every Monday from 12:00-1:15pm. Participation is free and all are welcome! Learn more at: https://wp.uthscsa.edu/echo/echo-program
MRGB-AHEC Offers Educational and Emotional Support: As you are aware, many of us have been in quarantine due to the COVID-19 for a few days now. Some of us get to work from home and at the same time care for our families. What does this mean to some of us? Well it means that, now more than ever, we must learn to manage our time between family and work. At the Area Health Education Center (AHEC), our mission is to link students to health careers, professionals to educational resources and citizens to healthy living.
Despite current public health issues, AHEC staff is focused on our mission and we continue to serve our communities from various remote locations. AHEC has been able to reach out to students, health professionals and community members through the use of modern technology and even by the old-fashioned method -- phone calls. Two weeks ago, while making a few phone calls, sending emails and text messages to some of AHEC students, we were able to connect with several students. We could hear in their voices how grateful they were that we were calling them to see how they were doing. We could also hear the fear in their voices when they shared concerns about their parents still going out to work during this situation. Some students’ responses included happy emojis saying that they are doing fine and they expressed appreciation for AHEC staff reaching out to them to see how they are doing. Recently, we received a message from one of the AHEC Scholars apologizing for not replying to the calls, emails or texts. The student shared that she had not been feeling well and that she was going to seek medical services but expressed concerns due to the COVID 19. We offered our prayers and asked her to keep us informed and to count on us for any assistance. Later that day, we received a text saying she was fine and at home with medications; not COVID 19 related illness. The student was very grateful and continued to thank the AHEC Staff for offering the support she needed through this difficult time.
The services offered to students include support during stressful times. The AHEC staff takes pride in serving the community and being part of a global movement by offering kindness.
South Coastal AHEC Helps Out the Food Bank: In partnership with the Food Bank of Corpus Christi, South Coastal AHEC successfully held its monthly food bank for the residents of the rural areas of our region. We were able to provide over 210 families with healthy food, making this month’s food bank one of our largest and most successful.
In light of the current crisis we are facing, we felt it was especially important to have our regular food bank this month because so many community members would not have access to healthy food without it. We were diligent in ensuring that all of the necessary safety precautions were taken to protect our volunteers, staff, and the community members.
We are grateful to our volunteers who came together as a team (all while maintaining proper social distance) to help provide food and resources where it is needed most.
Nueces County Health District Call Center: As part of South Coastal AHEC’s continued effort to help our community in this time of crisis, our AHEC Scholars have graciously volunteered their time and knowledge to provide valuable education to callers of the Nueces County Health District COVID 19 hotline. Our scholars have been vital in keeping the community up-to-date on the latest Coronavirus news as well as providing information and guidance regarding available services and resources, employment, child care, and utilities.
Donated Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to Higher Risk Community Members: South Coastal AHEC has donated over 200 masks and sets of gloves in an effort to increase protection from exposure to the Coronavirus for some of the higher-risk members of our community. We provided brief educational sessions for community members on the importance of PPE and how to appropriately wear it. Through this effort, we have done our part in helping to prevent the further spread of Coronavirus in our community.
2020 Census Promotion: In an effort to ensure that community members remain aware of the importance of being counted in the 2020 census, South Coastal AHEC has made it a priority to educate community members of the vast benefit that an accurate count can provide to our region. Our hope is to show community members that each one of us counts and that collectively we can improve quality of life and access to resources for all.
Attention Health Profession Students! The AHEC Scholars Program is Recruiting!
*For the safety of students, community partners and staff, the AHEC Scholars Program has transitioned fully online during the COVID-19 Pandemic.*
This program is an opportunity for health profession students, of all disciplines, to participate in interprofessional education (IPE) healthcare activities. Please note: we are unable to accept pre-health profession students at this time. The duration of the program is 1-2 years (depending on discipline), runs concurrently with a student’s academic curriculum and concludes when the student graduates from their respective health profession program. In addition to educational and professional enrichment, the AHEC Scholars Program offers a $500 stipend, per year, to help offset student costs. If you are interested in applying please click here. The AHEC Scholars Program is explained in greater detail at https://stahec.uthscsa.edu/ahec-scholars. Alternatively, please contact Andrea Moreno-Vasquez by e-mail at morenovasqua@uthscsa.edu or phone: 210-450-8451, for more information.
Partner Announcements
No Announcements at this time.
Salud America!
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