20 January 2010

65 million people live in primary care Health Profession Shortage Areas (HPSAs).

49 million people live in dental Health Profession Shortage Areas (HPSAs).

There are not enough health professionals to care for people living in these shortage areas. 

Who will provide care to the underserved?

The Health Resources and Services Administration estimates that it will take 16,643 primary care practitioners and 9,642 dental heath care professionals to address the health workforce shortage and meet the health needs of people living in these areas.

ExploreHealthCareers.org encourages YOU to consider giving back to a community by pursuing a health career that provides service to the medically underserved.

Ways to give back

EHC includes a national database of enrichment opportunities, some of which provide experiences that offer exposure to providing care for underserved populations. In addition, many of the programs in the Find a Pre-Health Enrichment Program database target students who are from low-income, rural, or underserved backgrounds. This is an excellent way to gain experience and exposure to the health care profession.

Here are two examples of programs featured in the enrichment database:

• The United States Public Health Service offers the Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program (JRCOSTEP). The mission of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corp is to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of the nation. As an officer of the Commissioned Corp, you may provide essential public health and healthcare services to underserved and disadvantaged populations. This is an opportunity to meet leaders in public health, gain valuable experience, and be paid while you complete your health professions education.
• The Health Science Technology Academy (HSTA)  is a community-based program in 26 West Virginia counties. The program follows students through high school and provides math and science club events. Students who successfully complete the HSTA program earn a tuition wavier to any WV state-run college or university. Students must meet one of the following criteria to enter the program: African-American, low-income, rural, or first in the family to attend college.  The hope of HSTA is to help students in underrepresented populations attend college and increase the number of healthcare professionals in West Virginia's medically underserved communities.

A Community College Gives Back

Tunxis Community College, located in central Connecticut, offers a dental hygiene program that not only educates hygienists for future employment -- but also offers low cost, high quality oral health care to underserved populations. Tunxis provides more than 8,000 patients annually with dental hygiene services, most of whom are seniors, children, low income families, the unemployed and special needs individuals in the community who might not otherwise receive dental health care. Mary A. Bencivengo, R.D.H., M.S., and Allied Health Division Director and Department Chair for the Dental Hygiene program says, “We have students who were patients in community health centers and eventually found their way to the dental hygiene or dental assistant program.”

For more information about the dental hygiene program at Tunxis, please contact Mary A. Bencivengo at mbencivengo@txcc.commnet.edu. 

There are many opportunities to give back in the healthcare profession. Additional resources and links on www.serve.gov  provide a national database of service opportunities for volunteers. These organizations allow pre-health students to gain valuable experience and exposure in helping those in the greatest need.

Plan now for summer 2010 opportunities

If you are a parent or student, now is the perfect time to search for summer opportunities. Even if you do not locate a summer program that provides community service opportunities, you can choose from over 500 programs in the United States in Explore Health Careers’  Find a Pre-Health Enrichment Program database.

You can make a difference. EHC encourages you to Do Something That Matters -- For Yourself, For Others.