Student Projects

Vermont Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) 2012 Summer Opportunities Available for Medical and Health Professions Students
MedQuest and SEARCH Experiences are summer 2012 paid work and learning opportunities hosted by the Vermont Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) in their geographical regions of the state. All are open to UVM College of Medicine students, but each has a specific focus. SEARCH programs are also open to other
health professions students from within UVM as well as other colleges and universities around the country.

2012 MedQuest and SEARCH Summer Opportunities Application

Learn more about the Champlain Valley 2012 SEARCH Summer Projects...

SEARCH SUMMER PROJECTS 2011

SEARCH Experiences are designed to offer interdisciplinary, community-based service-learning opportunities for health professions students. These two- and four-week experiences give students a deeper understanding of primary care in a rural Vermont community, serving underserved populations, the important role of the community, and the challenges and rewards of this work and setting. Champlain Valley AHEC facilitated the SEARCH projects of the following students in 2011:

• Peter Cooch and Dave Larsen, UVM College of Medicine, whose project helped to address some of the challenges that Latino migrant farm workers face in accessing healthcare in Franklin County.

Franklin County Latino Migrant Farm Worker Poster

Latino Migrant Farm Worker Quick Reference Guide - English

Latino Migrant Farm Worker Quick Reference Guide- Spanish

• Caitlin Dempsey and Alixandra West, UVM MSW students, and Heath Lutton, UVM COM, sought to increase the access for seniors at the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to healthy, locally grown food.

Linking Elders with Local Food for Better Health Poster

• Chelsea Harris, UVM COM, by updating the Champlain Valley AHEC Cultural Competency Manual has provided our region's primary care practitioners with new, revised and additional information to  assist them in providing health care by understanding Vermont's ethnically diverse population.

Cultural Competency for Health Care Providers Poster

• George Vana, Laura Rabideau, and Ben Ware, UVM COM students, worked together on a project to determine whether medical students regard electronic medical records as a barrier or an enabler of learning and whether their curriculum covering EMR could be improved.

Medical Student Perspectives Regarding Electronic Medical Records Poster

MEDQUEST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR POSITION (SUMMER)

MedQuest is a one-week residential program for high school students entering eleventh and twelfth grades. CVAHEC offers two MedQuest programs during the summer. CVAHEC is looking for several MedQuest Assistants to help staff the program.

What does a MedQuest Assistant do:

• Help plan pieces of the MedQuest Program, like workshops and/or presentations
• Stay with the participants 24/7
• Make sure the participants are on time and prepared for all activities
• Answer questions participants may have about health careers and education
• Make sure the participants are learning from this experience
• Actively participate in the programs
• Help transport students to their job shadows
• Run the evening programs
• Act as "counselors" and disciplinarians, if needed
• Communicate with the MedQuest Coordinator throughout the week
• Put together the End-of-Program Celebration slide show or other presentation
• Complete an evaluation of the program
• Have fun!

To apply for the MedQuest Assistant position, fill out the application and submit it to Southern Vermont AHEC (email to mhammond@southernvermontahec.org) by the deadline. Make sure to specify which AHEC MedQuest program you would like to do. AHEC representatives will review your application and get back to you as soon as possible.

FREEMAN SCHOLAR SUMMER INQUIRY PROJECTS

In this program, medical students spend the summer between their first and second year identifying, developing and implementing a health care project in a local community in the Champlain Valley.

Dr. Alan Rubin, UVM College of Medicine faculty advisor, mentors the project and the Champlain Valley AHEC supports the students through stipends and resource support.

All of the student’s projects are shown as poster presentations at the annual Freeman Scholar Recognition Reception at the UVM College of Medicine held in September.

SUMMER DOCS

In this program, first year UVM College of Medicine students spend their summer developing a program of service, learning and inquiry around a specific health care topic of their choice.

The project begins with the learning component in which CVAHEC organizes a symposium of area health & human service providers and medical students who participate in an informal discussion on health issues in the Champlain Valley and in rural Vermont in general.

Following the symposium, the students spend time shadowing health care professionals in a variety of fields and specialties, and learning about community social service and health care organizations.

It is the hope of the Summer Docs Program that students living in and working with Vermont communities will benefit both students (by improving their knowledge of public health and the practice of rural medicine as well as the skills needed for interdisciplinary teamwork and leadership) and the community (from the project that is implemented and in the hopes that these students will be drawn to return during clerkship, electives, and after residency, to practice in Vermont’s rural and underserved communities).