Annual Report 2020 Arizona AHEC Program Mission Statement: To enhance access to quality health care, particularly primary and preventive care, by improving the supply and distribution of health care professionals through academic community educational partnerships in rural and urban medically underserved areas. AzAHEC PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS In FY 2019-20, 11,368 participated in the following activities: Rural & Urban Underserved Health Professions Pre-College (K-16) Health Career Preparation Trainee Field Experiences Programs in Rural and Urban Underserved Areas: From July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020, the AzAHEC Program 6,198 participants. supported the following unduplicated field experiences in Participants in K-16 Health Career Preparation Programs AzAHEC Regional Centers, Rural Health Professions Programs included 1,932 K-16 students in 60 health careers clubs, and Residency Programs for nearly 210,000 contact hours: inclusive of academic year programs, summer programs at the University of Arizona (Frontera, Med-Start and BLAIS- # of # of Field Academic Discipline/Program Trainees Experiences ER), and summer programs at AzAHEC Regional Centers. Medical Residency 38 50 A total of 4,266 students and adults (parents, teachers and others) participated in 80 other health career events, Pharmacy School 89 160 including health career fairs. Other Undergraduate Health-related 46 55 Disciplines Nursing or Medical Assistant 203 203 Health Professions Continuing Education: 4,046 participants. Dentistry and Dental Hygiene 32 33 Participants at 198 continuing education events included Nurse Practitioner 115 206 4,046 physicians, dentists, public and allied health profes- Graduate - Psychology 1 1 sionals, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, registered nurses Public Health 202 229 and physician assistants. Graduate - Social Work 2 2 Medical School 233 591 Registered Nurse, Nurse Anesthetist or 78 158 Other Nurse INSIDE Phlebotomy Technician 27 31 1 .....AzAHEC Program Executive Summary Physical Therapy 2 2 2 .....AzAHEC Program Overview Physician Assistant 56 60 4 .....Education and Training of Arizona’s Health Workforce Total 1,124 1,781 4 Rural Health Professions Programs Congress authorized the Federal Area Health Education Center 4 AHEC Scholars Program (AHEC) Program in 1971 (PL III-148 § 751 PHSA). There are 4 AHEC COVID-19 Scholars Program now 56 AHEC Programs and 235 Regional Centers in 48 U.S. 5 Tuba City Housing states and territories. In 1984, Andy Nichols, MD, founded 5 Evaluations the Arizona Area Health Education Center (AzAHEC) Program in Tucson with the first AzAHEC Regional Center opening in 6 Interprofessional RHPP Conference Nogales. Today, five AzAHEC Regional Centers support health 7 RHPP Programs professions education, address health disparities, and pro- 15 Healthcare Workforce Data Study vide continuing education for health professions and the local 16 Residency Programs healthcare workforce. A sixth Regional Center focused on 17 Grant Funded Program: SHOW Pipeline American Indian healthcare workforce needs is projected to be Programs developed in 2021. 8 .....Community Engagement Research Grant – SHOW AzAHEC Program Personnel Clinic Daniel Derksen, MD, Senior Advisor 19 ....Pipeline Programs Leila Barraza, JD, MPH, Director 19 Med-Start Jennifer Zúñiga, BA, Associate Director 20 Frontera Amanda Perkins, MEd, CPA, Assistant Finance Director 21 BLAISER Colleen Reed, BA, Program Coordinator, Sr. 22 ....AHEC Regional Centers Edgardo Figueroa, BA, Program Manager 27 ....Financial Review Nicole Paredes, MEd, Program Manager Sonia Cota-Robles, JD, PhD, Evaluation Specialist 29 ....AzAHEC Advisory Commission AzAHEC PROGRAM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AzAHEC Program Executive Summary FY 2019-20 Thirty-five years ago, Arizona Area Health Educations Centers (AzA- In 2019-20, the AzAHEC Regional HEC) began serving Arizona through health professions workforce Centers and Rural Health Professions development for rural and urban underserved com- Programs have continued to provide munities. This 2019-20 AzAHEC Annual report community-based interprofessional highlights progress and achievements. education in new and innovative ways A total of 1,124 health profession students rep- during these unprecedented times. I resenting 37 universities participated in 1,781 community-based clinical and experiential training congratulate them on their unwavering experiences through collaboration with the five commitment to rural and urban under- AzAHEC Regional Centers, eight Rural Health served communities. Professions Programs (RHPPs) at Arizona’s three state universities (ASU, NAU, UArizona), and Michael D. Dake, MD Family Medicine Residency Programs at Ban- Senior Vice President for Health Sciences ner University Medical Center’s South Campus and North Country HealthCare. The first two-year AzAHEC Scholars Program cohort had 35 students graduate in the Spring of 2020. The 53 AzAHEC Scholars in the second-year cohort completed their first year of their interprofessional program including community immersions at one of the five AzAHEC Regional Centers. Each cohort gained greater knowledge through interprofessional curricula with didactic and community-based training activities focused on rural and/or urban underserved communities. In the Fall of 2020, a third cohort of 53 was welcomed. Continuing education (CE) for practicing health professionals re- mains a core AzAHEC activity. Each Regional Center identifies and addresses CE needs, resulting in 198 CE events across all five regions to 4,046 health professionals over the last year. The five AzAHEC Regional Centers hosted 60 health career clubs reaching 1,932 primary through high school students participating in health career learning programs in a structured curriculum. Frontera, Med-Start and Blaiser provided summer intensive programs at the University of Arizona-Tucson for future health professionals. The AzAHEC Regional Centers also offered health education events to 17,594 community member participants on health-related topics. On behalf of the Arizona AHEC Program and five Regional Centers, we thank our federal partners and our collaborators across Arizona for their commitment to education, quality primary care and health services in rural and urban underserved Arizona communities. Leila Barraza, JD, MPH Director, Arizona Area Health Education Centers (AzAHEC) Program Associate Professor, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Community, Environment & Policy Department Arizona AHEC 2020 Annual Report | 1 AzAHEC PROGRAM OVERVIEW About AzAHEC Focus Areas 2019-20 • Started in 1984 with the first AzAHEC Regional The AzAHEC Program and Regional Centers expanded statewide efforts to Center in Nogales, Arizona to recruit, train and retain a primary care workforce committed to strengthen Arizona’s health professions workforce from pipeline to practice helping underserved populations. including K-12, post-secondary health professions students, and health professionals from many disciplines. Regional Centers supported activities • Expanded by 1989 to include five AzAHEC Re- gional Centers serving all 15 Arizona Counties. to promote health awareness in their communities. • Housed in the UArizona Health Sciences Office n Youth (K-12) Health Career Programs: the AzAHEC Program and of the Senior Vice President as a Sponsored Regional Centers supported activities to introduce Arizona’s youth to health Project. careers, working with local high schools to support health career clubs • Enacted in Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) §§ 15-1643, 15-1644, 15-1645 and 5-572 (C) (e.g., Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) chapters), Border Latino and American Indian Summer Exposure to Research (BLAISER), • Operated with federal and required state matching funds. Focusing Research on the Border Area (FRONTERA) and the Med-Start • Supported by State of Arizona lottery funds Health Careers Program. resulting from a citizen ballot initiative directing n Health Professions Trainee Education: the AzAHEC Program, Rural support to the AzAHEC Program. Health Profession Programs (RHPP) and Regional Centers supported Structure clinical rotations, internships, and Graduate Medical Education (GME, The University of Arizona (UArizona) in Tucson aka residency training). Regional Centers provided students with in-depth administers the AzAHEC Program and has formal orientation to the local communities. Some trainees received housing, contracts with the five AzAHEC Regional Centers lo- travel and related expense support for experiences in remote areas. Dedi- cated strategically statewide. The AzAHEC Program cated, experienced preceptors and strong academic partnerships with col- and Regional Centers carry out the mission, goals, leges and universities provided high quality community-based education. objectives and work plan by creating, coordinating and implementing a scope of work designed to ad- n AzAHEC Scholars: the first cohort completed their two-year program; dress the health professions education and training a second Scholar cohort was accepted and had an immersion experience at needs within each Regional Center service area. their assigned AzAHEC Regional Center. Scholars get advanced, interpro- The AzAHEC Program Director (Leila Barraza JD, fessional community-based experiences in Regional Center communities. MPH) and Senior Advisor (Daniel Derksen MD, RHPP faculty mentors provided Scholars with continuity over the two-year Associate VP for Health Sciences) consult regu- program. larly with the AzAHEC Advisory