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Item Assessing a Rural Academic-Community Partnership Using Ripple Effect Mapping(Taylor & Francis, 2020) Taylor, Jennifer; Goletz, Sarah; Ballard, Jim; Family Medicine, School of MedicineAs Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) expand their efforts to improve the distribution and diversity of the healthcare workforce, one common question is how these activities impact their local communities. Ripple Effect Mapping (REM) is an evaluation method designed to assess a program’s intended and unintended impacts, social capital, and partner reciprocity. This study used REM to uncover and explore the intended and unintended impact of a rural AHEC in a 14-county region. The findings of this study provide direction to the AHEC in relation to strengthening their partnerships, social capital, and improving the health workforce in their region.Item Does an AHEC-sponsored Clerkship Experience Strengthen Medical Students’ Intent to Provide Care for Medically Underserved Patients?(Springer, 2015-12) Taylor, Jennifer D.; Kiovsky, Richard D.; Kayser, Ann; Kelley, Andrea; Department of Family Medicine, IU School of MedicineThe mission of Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) is to recruit and educate students to serve as practicing health care professionals in rural, primary care, and medically underserved communities. We sought to determine if participation in an AHEC-sponsored family medicine clerkship experiences during medical school are significantly associated with a self-reported intent to practice primary care in a medically underserved environment upon graduation. The study was a prospective cohort study comparing third-year family medicine students with the Indiana University School of Medicine who participated in either an AHEC-sponsored family medicine clerkship to those who completed their required family medicine clerkship outside of the AHEC setting. Following the 160-h clinical clerkship, all students completed a mandatory, electronic survey and were asked to self-report their intent to the following question: “Which of the following statements best describes the impact of the family medicine clerkship on your intention to provide care to underserved patients when you complete residency training?” The question was integrated into a mandatory post-clerkship evaluation form required by the Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine. A Chi square test of independence as well as a multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent association of AHEC clerkship participation and reported intent. A total of 1138 students completed the survey. There were not significant differences in age, gender, race, and ethnicity between students that completed an AHEC clerkship and those that did not. After adjusting for gender, race, and ethnicity, AHEC participants were significantly more likely to report an intention to practice primary care in a medically underserved setting upon graduation. Female students were found to be 1.2–3.4 times as likely to report increased intent compared to male students (95 % CI 1.241–3.394). Participation in an AHEC-supported clerkship was associated with a significant increase in self-reported intent to practice primary care in a medically underserved setting. Additional research is required to determine if participation and/or reported intent are predictive of practice selection after graduation.Item Longitudinal Evaluation Practices of Health Workforce Development Programs: An Incremental Approach to Evaluability Assessment(Elsevier, 2018-08) Taylor, Jennifer; Forsell, Gretchen; Perweiler, Elyse; Sienkiewicz, Mary; Family Medicine, School of MedicineItem The pandemic silver lining: preparing osteopathic learners to address healthcare needs using telehealth(De Gruyter, 2022-01) Taylor, Jennifer; Wright, Amanda; Summers, Michael; Family Medicine, School of MedicineContext During the COVID-19 pandemic, many clinicians quickly adapted their way of practicing patient care by offering telehealth and virtual office visits while simultaneously having to minimize direct patient care. The shift in direct clinical learning opportunities provided to third- and fourth-year medical students required a shift in the educational curriculum to develop learner skills around the appropriate use of telehealth in patient care. Objectives The aim of this project was to provide exposure to students so they could learn the telemedicine equipment and best practices, and how to identify infectious diseases to improve access to care and meet the needs of the patient. Methods In July and August of 2020, the Indiana Area Health Education Centers Program partnered with Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MUCOM) to support a 1 day telehealth simulation (online curriculum, group lecture, and two standardized patient encounters) into their clerkship curriculum. We utilized a retrospective pretest-posttest to assess changes in learner knowledge around telehealth after the program. At the conclusion of the telehealth training program, students were asked to complete a retrospective pretest-posttest assessing their level of preparedness to utilize telehealth equipment, their preparedness to demonstrate “telehealth best practices” in a manner consistent with protecting patient (and data) privacy, their confidence to utilize telehealth for identification of infectious diseases, and their confidence to utilize telehealth to identify proper treatment plans. Results A total of 96 learners completed the program in 2020. Posttest results demonstrate a statistically significant (p<0.05) improvement for learners’ self-reported level of preparedness to utilize telehealth equipment, their preparedness to demonstrate “telehealth best practices” in a manner consistent with protecting patient (and data) privacy, their confidence to utilize telehealth for identification of infectious diseases, and their confidence to utilize telehealth to identify proper treatment plans. Conclusions Our telehealth curriculum involving a video, interactive learning session, and two standardized patient experiences provided osteopathic medical learners with realistic simulated case scenarios to work through in effort to improve their knowledge and self-efficacy around the utilization of telehealth in practice.Item Using area health education centers to promote interest in rural practice(2016-09) Taylor, Jennifer D.; Goletz, Sarah E.; Department of Family Medicine, School of MedicineIntroduction: In the USA, area health education centers (AHECs) work to recruit and educate students to serve in medically underserved communities, primary care, and rural settings. One important aspect of their work is connecting students with rural clinical experiences. Within these experiences, AHECs incorporate a community health/socioeconomic experience within the family medicine clerkship that may not be as prevalent in the standard family medicine clerkship experiences. The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between AHEC-sponsored family medicine clerkships with a self-reported intent to practice in a rural setting upon graduation. Methods: The study compared third-year medical students with the Indiana University School of Medicine, which participated in AHEC-sponsored family medicine clerkships to the standard family medicine clerkship. Following the 4-week clerkship, students were asked to report their intent to work in a rural setting using a five-point Likert scale. A χ2 test was used to determine the association of AHEC sponsorship, clerkship site location (rural/urban) and intent to practice in a rural setting. Results: The study consisted of 587 students. There was a statistically significant association between self-reported intent and rural clerkship site, χ2 (1, N=587)=6.542, p=0.01. Furthermore, 21.6% (n=25) of students with a rural clerkship experience reported a greater intent compared to 12.3% (n=58) of students with non-rural clerkship experience. Conclusions: The study confirmed a significantly positive association between participation in medical clerkship experiences in a rural primary care setting and the intent to practice in a rural setting upon graduation. The results also support the potential value-added benefits through academic–community partnerships with AHECs, family medical and other primary care specialty clerkship programs may perhaps succeed in increasing student interest in pursuing a practice serving in rural communities upon graduation.