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Scholars steered toward nursing, dentistry by Cindy Abole Public Relations Some of South Carolina’s brightest minority undergraduates spent the first week of June exploring careers in nursing and dentistry, and gaining experiences from shadowing as part of the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC) Future Health Professionals Academy.    Danielle Gill, center, and Joani Dunmeyer, right, receive awards from S.C. AHEC's Angelica Christie for their interdisciplinary poster project. The program, which featured 11 undergraduate students representing institutions throughout South Carolina, is divided into nursing and dental tracks and offers underrepresented student-participants an opportunity to evaluate each profession. Participants also met faculty and interacted with professionals, academic staff and current students. They enhanced their knowledge while building skills in areas of critical thinking, communications and time management.   “This was a great opportunity for S.C. AHEC and other support institutions to be involved,” said Angelica Christie, director, S.C. AHEC Health Careers Program. “We’re very happy to collaborate with MUSC in this project. This year’s participants have been the best group of kids since the program’s inception. We’ve developed a program that opens the doors to a lot of opportunities not commonly available for students who are interested in health care careers. We hope it has been helpful.”   Participants of the 2007 S.C. AHEC Future Health Professionals Academy. The program was created to support undergraduates, especially minority and disadvantaged students, who are interested in pursuing health care careers. The five-day academy offered participants a variety of interactive activities to introduce them to the health care professions, especially nursing and dental medicine, while enhancing their academic needs, personal growth and development.   “We needed to establish a program like the academy that could attract potential students into the health professions,” said Gayenell S. Magwood, Ph.D., R.N., College of Nursing. She is a health disparities and diabetes education specialist based in the College of Nursing. This is the fourth year that the nursing professor has collaborated with this summer program.   “We provided them with an intense experience that introduced a structured mentoring process that helped them meet nursing and dental faculty and staff, plus exposed them to a sampling of the respective curriculums,” Magwood said. “As an institution, our goal is to help support the vision that this academy offers and provide students with the resources and training to help them move forward in their plans.”   The academy experience also provided an opportunity for students to network with nursing or dental faculty while offering them insight into each program’s curriculum and the application process. Participants completed about 64 hours of didactic and clinical seminars and training throughout the week. Academy faculty led a variety of classes from academic skills building, resources management, gross anatomy and understanding of the disease process. Most importantly, participants were paired with working professionals in the hospital, clinics and community as part of an intense mentoring experience.   “We worked with a dynamic group of students,” said Gwendolyn Brown, R.Ph., DMD, director of diversity in the College of Dental Medicine and a member of the college’s admissions committee. “Participating in this year’s program helped cement their desire to pursue dentistry as a career. We’re excited about this and the possibilities it brings to help increase the number of underrepresented minorities in our state. Because of this program, we’re slowly reaching our goal.”   Students applied to the program in late April and completed a rigorous application process. Candidates needed to be a South Carolina resident, possess a 3.0 or higher GPA, be currently enrolled or accepted in an accredited institution, and committed to pursuing either a nursing or pre-dental medicine degrees. Students were asked to present a copy of their official school transcripts, immunization documentation and two letters of recommendation from either a teacher, advisor or community representative.      “It’s important for MUSC to be a leader in responding to the health care needs of South Carolina residents,” Magwood said. “We should provide the next generation of nurses and dentists with the right resources and reliable tools to be successful in their careers. MUSC College of Nursing has been an active participant with a network of statewide educators at colleges and institutions, in addition to professional nurses who are committed to increasing and preparing tomorrow’s nursing workforce.”   A highlight of the program was the interdisciplinary poster projects that introduced students to a variety of health care topics such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, health disparities and other health issues. Students collaborated to gather and organize research, create a poster and present their findings to fellow students and guest faculty on the final day.      “With the focus on interdisciplinary education, students were able to see how other health professions impact health care,” said  Monica Ward-Murray, R.N., Ed.D., South Carolina State University. “This is especially true with diseases like diabetes and its effect on a patient’s nursing and dental care. Once again, it’s great to have both professions represented at the table.”   Christie was among several coordinators, staff and other academy facilitators who contributed to this year’s program. Facilitators included Magwood; Brown; Ward-Murray; Charlene Pope, Ph.D., R.N., College of Nursing; Shannon Bright Smith, R.N., Center for Clinical Effectiveness, MUSC Medical Center;  Val Ship, R.N., Ph.D., Veteran’s Affairs; Pam Maczyk, PharmD, College of Pharmacy; Rick Albenesius, DMD, College of Dental Medicine; Shannon Richards-Slaughter, Ph.D., Center for Academic Excellence; Marcia Reinhardt and Charles Brown, MUSC Library; Jill Stevens and Monica Struble, MUSC Enrollment Services; Jennifer Larke, College of Dental Medicine; and Paula Jones, S.C. AHEC Careers Program. 2007 Future Health Professionals Dalynn Blair, Megan Manigault, NeKosha Flanningan, Desiree Collenton, Danielle Harris, Briana McCoy, Julie Douangchak, Samar Parks, Jessica Cook, Joanne Dietrich, Danielle Gill, Joani Dunmeyer, Lucy Singleton, Felicia McNeil, and Shannon Wright.   For information, visit http://www.scahec.net/hcp/hcp.html.     Friday, June 22, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.