Paramedic Students Complete 7200 hours of Service through AmeriCorps.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act, which established the Corporation for National and Community Service and brought the full range of domestic community service programs under the umbrella of one central organization.

This legislation built on the first National Service Act signed by President H.W. Bush in 1990. It also formally launched AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs that engage Americans in intensive service to meet the nation’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. In 2011, Interior Area Health Education Center partnered with Rural Alaska Community Action Program in Anchorage AK to offer the UAF Paramedic Academy students the opportunity to become AmeriCorps Members through the Students in Service AmeriCorps Program. The goal of the program is to meet student educational requirements and serve through civic engagement within their community. The 2011-2012 Paramedic Academy enrolled 15 students into the program to complete over 7200 hours of clinical educational time and serve in the greater Fairbanks Community. Students proudly served at Joel’s Place, Volunteer Fire Departments, The Denali Center, raised funds for Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the GO RED event, Girls Hockey Tournaments and also dedicated time to helping other students achieve their goals in healthcare. Each service member was required to serve 450 hours and in return they will be receiving an educational award of $1468.00. Most of our members here accomplished this in less than 4 months. A job well done, I am proud to recognize these 15 students who have went above and beyond to learn what it means to volunteer and serve in their community. Please join me in congratulating the following students:

Oscar Adams

Ziad Alkak

James Brady

Cody Carver

Joey Casey

Nick CLark

Cole Crockett

Cory Fairclough

Hunter Gallien

Lillian Hampton

Alex Katkin

Matt Mokracek

Jesse Salsman

Doug Seiffert

Tyler Turner

The Youth Health Service Corp is a new career exploration program this year at Interior AHEC!  The YHSC is a health career recruitment program, founded by Northwestern Connecticut AHEC, which engages high school students in volunteer/service projects that address community health care needs for underserved and vulnerable populations.   Students complete a 6 module volunteer training to prepare them to be successful volunteering in a variety of health care settings, and then apply this knowledge serving with local agencies as a group and independently.  

Benefits for Students

• Increased knowledge of Health Care Careers
• Participation in meaningful community service
• CPR  certification
• Experience to add to college or work resume
• Exposure to professional career role models.

For more information please contact, Megan Gooding, Education Outreach Specialist, Interior AHEC, megan.gooding@bannerhealth.com, 907-458-6416

The August 2011 Trends Report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development website highlights the Health Care Industry in Alaska.

It states, “Health care is an indispensable service, just like running water, electricity, public education, police and fire protection, roads and highways, and other hallmarks of developed nations. Because everyone needs a doctor at some point, it’s an industry with a guaranteed customer base.

In 2010, the health care industry accounted for about 9 percent of jobs in Alaska. It was the fourth largest industry, with 31,800 jobs and a payroll of $1.53 billion.”

If you are interested in reading the entire report please click here: http://labor.state.ak.us/trends/aug11.pdf

FOCUS OF INTERIOR AHEC

Interior Area Health Education Center AKA: AHEC, is partnered with Fairbanks Memorial Hospital/Denali Center with commitment to expand health care workforce in the state of Alaska.

• Expose K-12 students to Health Careers information

• Facilitate clinical rotation experiences

• Provide continuing education opportunities for rural providers

AHEC 3R’s: Recruitment, Rotations, & Retention

Created in 2006, Interior AHEC is one of six education centers within the state of Alaska. Bethel AK hosts: YK AHEC, Anchorage AK hosts: SouthCentral AHEC, Sitka AK hosts: Southeast AHEC, Barrow AK hosts Northwest AHEC, and our Program office is located within the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Interior AHEC office is located at:

1302 21st Ave

Fairbanks, AK 99701