History
The South Coastal Area Health Education Center (AHEC) was established in 1996 to recruit and train health professionals to practice in medically underserved areas by affiliating with a teaching hospital in the training of third and fourth year medical students and residents. The AHEC region also develops community-based training sites for health professions students to engage in clinical practice learning. The South Coastal AHEC focuses on educational opportunities for students K-12 by establishing community health education programs and promoting health careers. The AHEC provides continuing education training for area health professionals.
Mission
To improve access to quality health care in South Texas through the facilitation of health professions training and education.
Region
- Mc Mullen
- Nueces
- San Patricio
Mailing Address:
- South Coastal AHEC
- UT Health Science Center at San Antonio
- 2222 Morgan Avenue Suite 114
- Corpus Christi, Texas 78405
Phone Numbers:
- Phone: (361) 881-8133
- Fax: (361) 888-7523
Belinda "Bel" Flores
floresb3@uthscsa.edu
Center Director
Joanne Guajardo
guajardoj4@uthscsa.edu
Program Coordinator
South Coastal AHEC serves as a community healthcare intermediary to the Coastal Bend Area.
The Coastal Bend is an area of South Texas with a widespread of underserved rural communities
and colonias and a shortage of healthcare providers. Our Center’s goal is to improve the health
status of our community by standing in the gap and working to reduce health disparities due to
access to care.
Continuing Medical Education
South Coastal AHEC is an accredited CME provider. This allows us to provide educational
programs to all physicians to expand and improve their medical practice skills and assists
with requirements of licensure regulations, hospital privileges, malpractice insurance and
professional organization memberships.
The monthly series CME programs that are provided are ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support),
PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) and BLS (Basic Life Support) training. Every spring we
sponsor an ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics) course. Many other program topics are
available throughout the year.
Tar Wars & ANTZ – Anti tobacco programs
Tobacco is the only product that when used directly causes addiction, disease and death.
South Coastal AHEC is at war with tobacco. Using the ANTZ program to educate 1st and 2nd grade
students of the effects of smoking, a cartoon storybook about ants that are hard at work but
the grandpa cannot work anymore because he has smoked all his life and is now weak and sick.
Then, continuing to educate students in the 4th and 5th grade using the TAR WARS curriculum.
Tar Wars is an interactive program by the American Academy of Family Physicians that is gear
towards the education of students about the cost and stigma of smoking.
Disaster Preparedness Training
Corpus Christi is located on the Gulf of Mexico and serves as the port to South Texas.
The city houses several oil refineries. The disaster threats are hurricanes, oil spills,
and refinery explosions. South Coastal AHEC is a provider in Basic and Core Disaster Life
Support Training. This training is sponsored by the American Medical Association for healthcare
professionals and the community. Another resource used in disaster preparedness is the PEACE Program
taught to students. This program serves as a preparedness tool for the students and their families
allowing them to formulate and execute a plan in the event of a disaster.
Health Fairs
Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The nine counties
of South Coastal AHEC consist of multiple underserved rural communities. Health Fairs are a healthcare
resource for the people of the rural communities. As an AHEC, we sponsor and are involved in the rural
health fairs in our counties. Between our organization and our partners, we are able to provide many
health related services and preventative healthcare information to the communities with a problem of
access to care. Our long-term goal is to find a healthcare home for each of the citizens in our counties.
Frontera De Salud
There are over 100 colonias in the Coastal Bend area that are in need of health care. These communities
not only have an access to care problem but also have to tackle many environmental issues, such as polluted
water and contamination of their land. Frontera De Salud is a volunteer organization run by medical students
at UTHSCSA that are committed to bringing healthcare to the underserved. South Coastal AHEC partners with Frontera
providing housing and the needed supplies to care for the families living in the colonias.
Promotoras
South Coastal AHEC has partnered with South Texas Colonia Initiative in providing promotoras to the colonias.
The Promotoras educate on issues related to the well-being of the family. They serve as resources in their
neighborhoods. If they don't know an answer to a question, they know how to find out the answer and help educate
their community.
One of our goals is to help close the gap on the health care professional shortage
needed to care for the communities of South Texas. Studies show that where students
train they will stay and practice. South Coastal AHEC provides different rotations,
a simulation lab, and shadowing experiences to all health care professional students.
Housing is available to the students that rotate in the Corpus Christi area.
Medical Student Rotations
We offer four-week rotations to medical students. Students train using a hands-on
approach experience while caring for the underserved community of South Texas. The
students are able to rotate at CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Memorial through the Family
Medicine Residency Program or Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Students have
the opportunity to have direct patient care for a wide spectrum of patients in an
emergent, inpatient, and outpatient setting. The students also will participate
in morning reports, lectures and experience the life of a resident.
Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner Rotations
Clinical rotations for Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners are available
with different community physicians. The rotation allows the student supervised
access to patients in an outpatient setting. This will help enhance the student’s
ability to formulate a diagnosis through physical examinations, oral presentations,
written communications, and treatment plans.
Shadowing Experiences
Shadowing experiences are available to students that are interested in health care
professions. This rotation is in collaboration with CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Memorial.
The students will rotate in the hospital and experience a day with a health care
professional. The rotation is tailored to meet the students’ requests and help enhance
their commitment to a health care profession.
Health Career Exploration Clubs
South Coastal AHEC is an advocate for students that are interested in a healthcare
profession. We believe dreams can be achieve with hard work and dedication. Our health
career clubs are designed to enhance the student's basic knowledge and skills necessary
to succeed in health career goals and to familiarize the student with the medical, dental,
pharmacy, nursing, medical technology, dental hygiene, physical therapy, occupational therapy
professions and other allied health professions and are available to high school, junior high
school and middle school students.
EMRAPPERS and Biomed Clubs
The EMRAPPERS and Biomed Clubs are possible through a partnership between Texas A&M Corpus
Christi University, The Emergency Medicine Residency Program, and South Coastal AHEC. These clubs
are for college students that are pursuing a health career. The students are able to participate
in resident lectures, suturing workshops, casting workshops, shadowing physicians, and assisting in
research and studies being conducted a the community county hospital.
Grand Rounds
Grand Rounds is a weekly CME program directed by the Department of Family & Community Medicine
in San Antonio and is videoconference to Corpus Christi. Grand Rounds is open to all Family medicine
physicians, residents, other health care providers, and medical students. The series provides evidence-
based and patient-center instruction that can used to prevent disease and improve the delivery of care
to patients, families, and communities.
Health Professions Summer Programs
Different summer programs are available to students with an interest in healthcare professions.
The summer programs will vary but usually include hands-on training, certification courses, and an
overall view into the different health professions available. See our calendar of events for dates
and types of summer programs. Also, please visit our photo gallery containing pictures of our past
events.
Medical Explorers: Congratulations Graduates
South Coastal AHEC Medical Explorer’s Post is a group of students interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. The mission of the Post is to promote health professions to our local students using a hands-on approach; thus bridging the gap in the shortage of health professionals in our area. The Explorer’s Post goals are: 1.) to gain practical knowledge and experience in a health career, 2) engage in activities centered on health career opportunities, 3) life skills, citizenship, character development, and leadership experience to encourage the development of the whole person, 4) take on leadership roles, learn, and grow in a supportive, caring, and enjoyable environment, and of course, have fun in the process.
The Post has been active for 4 years and has graduated its first class of Seniors. Congratulations go out to the 5 graduates; who are all now pursuing a career in Health Care. Each Senior was sent off to college with a little book money that was raised by the Post. Good Luck! We hope to see you soon caring for our community.
Christopher Gallegos-UTSA-Physical Therapy; Ana Perez-Kaplan – Nursing; Bianca Ramirez-Del Mar-Nursing; Krystella Stobbs-Bee County-Pre-Pharmacy; Mercedes Bonilla-St Mary's- Pre-Med
5K Fun Run:
The 2nd Annual 5K Fun Run is scheduled for March 24, 2012. Last year there were over 250 runners and walkers that participated in the first annual AHEC Fun Run. It was probably the coldest day in South Texas but the loyal AHEC supporters came out to participate. This year we are expecting a larger group and much better weather. Aside from the run, South Coastal AHEC will be hosting a health fair for the participants. Health Care Providers from the community will be there to do B/P checks, glucose finger sticks, BMI, vitals, cholesterol checks, and many more health screenings and information will be provided. The funds raised will be for the graduating Medical Explorers of 2012.
(CME) Continuing Medical Education:
Local physicians are staying close to home for their CME due to the cuts in healthcare. As one of the few CME providers for South Texas, South Coastal AHEC has increased its number of CME programs to meet the demand for continuing education to our local physicians to include ethics programs. The purpose of the South Coastal CME Program is to provide quality, evidence-based educational activities that will support the highest quality of patient care, improve physician competence and practice performance. SCAHEC utilizes the ACGME/ABMS core competencies as a basis for the content areas of our programs. Content is developed based on identified practice gaps of our physician audience and includes but is not limited to ACLS, trauma surgery, oncology, cardiology, neuroscience, general medicine, and public health. Additional content areas include quality improvement initiatives, current ethical and professional responsibility issues and medical-legal issues.
Please visit our calendar tab for dates of our CME activities for 2012.
Health Care through Service Learning:
South Coastal AHEC has partnered with Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the development of a Community Outreach Course for students interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. The course goal is to promote health care prevention to families living in the surrounding colonias, while providing a hands-on learning approach for the students.
The students will be assigned a family to work with during the semester. They will assess and develop a plan for each family addressing the needs of the family and focus on the areas that can be improved to promote a healthier lifestyle. Each student will work with university faculty, physicians, nurses and community partners to help leverage resources that maybe available to the colonia families.
Food and Healthcare for the Underserved in South Texas:
It has been a year since South Coastal AHEC in collaboration with the food bank established a distribution site in Orange Grove, Texas. Since then, this site has provided food, nutrition education and preventive healthcare services to this rural community that has no healthcare provider. The services continue to be on the 3rd Saturday of every month. Over 150 families monthly have benefited from this outreach.
|
February-June 2012 |
| Date |
Events |
| February 1 |
Food Bank-Banquete, Texas
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics |
| February 7 |
Odem Elementary Health Fair-Odem, Texas |
| February 8 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| February 9 |
Medical Explorers Monthly Meeting-Del Mar College
CME-Immunization Program - SPAR Medical Society-Aransas Pass,TX |
| February 10 |
ACLS Provider/Renewal Course |
| February 14 |
Food Bank-Driscoll, Texas |
| February 15 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| February 18 |
Food Bank-Orange Grove, Texas |
| February 20 |
President’s Day-Office Closed |
| February 22 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Peer Review/Trauma Dept – Christus Spohn Memorial
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| February 29 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| March 3 |
ACLS Renewal Course
|
| March 7 |
Food Bank-Driscoll, Texas
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics |
| March 8 |
Medical Explorers Monthly Meeting-Del Mar College |
| March 13 |
Food Bank-Banquete, Texas |
| March 14 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline
CME-Immunization Program - Christus Hospital Alice |
| Marcy 17 |
Food Bank-Orange Grove, Texas |
| March 21 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Peer Review/Trauma Dept – Christus Spohn Memorial |
| March 24 |
Medical Explorers 5K Fun Run/Walk-Downtown Water Gardens |
| March 27 |
CME-Immunization Program - Christus Hospital Kleberg (Kingsville, TX) |
| March 28 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| April 4 |
Food Bank-Driscoll, Texas
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| April 6 |
Holiday-Good Friday |
| April 7 |
CME-Community Health Fair-Antonio E. Garcia Art & Education Center |
| April 10 |
Food Bank-Banquete, Texas |
| April 11 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| April 12 |
Medical Explorers Monthly Meeting-Del Mar College |
| April 18 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Peer Review/Trauma Dept – Christus Spohn Memorial
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| April 20 |
ACLS Provider/Renewal Course |
| April 21 |
Food Bank-Orange Grove, Texas |
| April 25 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| April 30 |
CME-Electronic Orders Program - Christus Spohn System |
| May 2 |
Food Bank-Driscoll, Texas
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics |
| May 5 |
CME-Neuroscience Conference – Solomon Ortiz Center (Corpus Christi, Tx) |
| May 8 |
Food Bank-Banquete, Texas |
| May 9 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| May 10 |
Medical Explorers Monthly Meeting-Del Mar College |
| May 16 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Peer Review/Trauma Dept – Christus Spohn Memorial
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| May 19 |
Food Bank-Orange Grove, Texas |
| May 23 |
Food Bank-Orange Grove, Texas
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| May 30 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| June 6 |
Food Bank-Driscoll, Texas
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| June 8-9 |
ACLS Provider/Renewal Course |
| June 12 |
Food Bank-Banquete, Texas |
| June 13 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| June 14 |
Medical Explorers Monthly Meeting-Del Mar College |
| June 16 |
Food Bank-Orange Grove, Texas |
| June 20 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Peer Review/Trauma Dept – Christus Spohn Memorial
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |
| June 22-23 |
American Cancer Society- “Relay for Life” |
| June 27 |
Family Medicine Clerkship Didactics
CME-Tumor Conference - Christus Spohn Shoreline |