“Jennifer Decker is an Alaskan with a driving desire to help those in rural/underserved areas with her health care skills.  Currently, she is a Senior in the Univ. of Washington NW MEDEX program and she will graduate in the Fall of 2012 as a Physician’s Assistant.  When asked about the anticipated rotation she said that she simply couldn’t wait to follow Dr. Sastic  at the Yukon Flats Clinic even though her scheduled time there will be during the darkest part of the year….and the coldest.  But as Jenna said, “I’m sure they think I can take it, since I’m from Alaska.”  The Interior Alaska AHEC office in Fairbanks is pleased to support our first PA student placement at the Ft. Yukon clinic.”

6th Annual Fairbanks Diabetes Expo,

Saturday February 25th 9am – 4pm,

West Valley High School,

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital’s Diabetes Center brings you a free event all about diabetes. Fairbanks Diabetes Center: 458-6400. Working together to change the course of Diabetes!

8-9am               Registration

9-9:40am        The Ins / Outs of Diabetes Injection Therapy (Jeffrey J. Gaarder, PharmD, CDE, CAIHC Pharmacy)

10-10:40am   Lipids and Diabetes: The Connection

                             (Dr. J. Ross Tanner, DO, FACP, Diabetes and Lipid Clinic of AK,  Anchorage)

11-11:40am     Exercise to Prevent and Manage Diabetes

                              (Kirk Seegmiller, Exercise Physiologist, Porter Heart Center, FMH)

12-1pm              Lunch (Provided by the American Diabetes Association)

1-1:40pm          Managing Diabetes: The Next Step with an A1C Champion

                               ( Gary Montuori, A1C Champion, La Mesa, California)

2-2:40pm          The Diabetic Eye (Dr. Kathleen Rice, OD, Eye Clinic of Fairbanks)

3-3:40pm           A Natural Approach to the treatment of Diabetes

                               (Dr. Scott Luper, Alaska Center for Natural Medicine, Fairbanks)

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

Free Accredited CE Courses are currently being offered by Interior AHEC for rural providers. These courses are offered through Swank Healthcare online. If you are interested in more information please contact Lillian Ruedrich at lillian.ruedrich@bannerhealth.com or 907-458-6417. Also you may  click on our Community Education tab / Free Accredited CE Courses for details about this program.

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