The Rural Health Education Network (RHEN) has been awarded a $595,215, three-year contract to continue the Student/Resident Experiences and Rotation in Community Health (SEARCH) program.
Through the SEARCH program, health professions students enhance their community involvement skills as they:
- Interact with people outside of the clinical setting; and
- Get an understanding of the role of health professionals as members of the community while being exposed to rural life.
The SEARCH program is done in collaboration with Area Health Education Center (AHEC) executive directors:
- Gretchen Forsell, with the Northern Nebraska AHEC in Norfolk;
- Sarah Cunningham, Ph.D., with the Central Nebraska AHEC in Grand Island;
- Gary Hastings, with the Nebraska Panhandle AHEC in Scottsbluff; and
- Robyn Henderson, with the Southeast Nebraska AHEC in Beatrice.
Liliana Bronner, a program coordinator with RHEN, is the principal investigator on the contract, which came from stimulus funds via the Health Resources and Services Administration.
“The SEARCH program will help RHEN and AHEC in their mission to recruit and retain rural health care providers, serve as a channel for creating interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships outside of the classroom setting, and dispel negative attitudes and beliefs regarding the provision of primary care in rural areas,” Bronner said.
Program participants are able to combine SEARCH program opportunities with their required clinical rotations, she said.
By next summer, Bronner hopes to have at least 70 health professions students engaged in community health projects throughout rural Nebraska.