The Rural Health Education Network (RHEN) is the umbrella under which all UNMC rural outreach education activities are developed.  RHEN began in 1989 after a UNMC Task Force was charged with developing a multidisciplinary model for educating health care professionals to serve in rural areas.

In 1990, the Nebraska Legislature provided start-up funds for development of RHEN.  Today, the state continues to provide annual support of more than $1 million for rural education and outreach programs.

Among our efforts to reach across Nebraska are:

Diabetes management in Native American populations. The School of Allied Health Professions works with tribal diabetes programs and tribal colleges in Macy and Winnebago, NE to deliver courses on diabetes management and prevention.

Tribal college and high school students participated in a distance education course in health care careers. A symposium in 2001 entitled “War on Diabetes” brought 80 participants together to exchange information and experiences.

Career Day. This annual event allows rural schools to bring up to five students apiece to spend a day with UNMC students and faculty.  The event originated when a group of UNMC students from rural areas decided to raise awareness among young rural students about the opportunities in the health care professions. 

This activity is still jointly sponsored with the UNMC Student Association for Rural Health.  More than 200 students participate each year from about 38 rural schools within a three-hour drive of Omaha.

Eighth Grade Health/Science Meet.  Since 1993, more than 3,000 eighth-graders from across Nebraska have participated in regional science meets. Up to 80 students per year are selected from the regional meets to attend the state three-day meet on the UNMC campus each June.  An alumni meet of previous state meet participants is held every other year.  Students are tracked to analyze their career paths.

RHEN Community Grants.  For the past four years, RHEN has been able to provide funds to develop collaboration between health care and school systems in rural Nebraska communities.  Twenty-four small grants have been provided to 18 community organizations to encourage students to pursue science and health careers

Winter Workshop.  This four-day event provides the opportunity for 30 undergraduate students in health-related fields to visit UNMC and learn about agromedicine and rural health issues. Participants in the Winter Workshop have gone on to become leaders in rural health.

Cultural Competency Workshop.  RHEN is working with the Nebraska Minority Public Health Association to develop an annual workshop on cultural competency for pre-health professional students at Nebraska undergraduate schools.  This program will be a weeklong didactic workshop with a research component and an additional 20-hour practicum.

Teacher Connections.  In coordination with the Nebraska Academy of Teachers of Science (NATS), UNMC sponsors an Annual Teacher Connections Day for rural high school science teachers.  Teachers spend a day on campus at UNMC with scientists and researchers.  The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a scientific session that can be taken back to the high school classroom.

Student recruitment resources.  In 1996, a professionally developed 22-minute videotape “Growing Our Own” was distributed to hospitals across Nebraska to share with local junior and senior high students. The video features rural Nebraskans who have entered the health professions. The video is still being utilized today and more than 500 copies have been distributed.

In collaboration with the Nebraska Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, RHEN recently published a booklet of all the health profession training available in Nebraska, including certificate, diploma, community college and graduate-level programs.  The booklet will be distributed to hospitals and school counselors across the state.

RHEN Focus. A quarterly newsletter is published and distributed to inform more than 3,500 rural Nebraskans about issues and programs relevant to rural health care delivery, education and research.

Program support. Each year, UNMC assists in sponsorship of programs to outreach to communities across Nebraska. Programs that receive annual sponsorship and support from RHEN include:

• The Nebraska Rural Health Association Annual Conference.
• The Nebraska Minority Public Health Association Annual Conference.
• The Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women – Eastern and Western Nebraska Conferences