Regional Centers | Northeast

Program Summary
The past year has been exhilarating with activities and growth
opportunities for Northeast AHEC! Our mission "to improve the
quality and quality of health care professionals in rural and
underserved areas of Oklahoma" remains our focus.

We remain committed to our vision of "a time when all people in
our 18 county regions achieve optimal health through access to
quality health care provided by well-trained health professionals."

We attended the National AHEC conference held in Baltimore,
Maryland August 1-5. Wanda Holmes and Pat Turner were
honored to be selected as presenters for conference programs
unique to Northeast. Wanda spoke on Camp Scrubs and stress
management. Pat spoke on the development and partnership of
the Geriatric Tec Program. The presentations were well received.

Pat Turner was selected to review the national AHEC grants in
Baltimore and served as a member of the review team for the
National Rural Health Outreach Grants in Washington DC. She
was trained as a National Health Service Corp Interviewer and
participated in the national interviews. These activities are an
honor to be selected for and a learning experience!

Northeast was honored to have Wanda Holmes acknowledged as
the American Heart Association 2003 Conference Chair on "Woman:
Heart Disease and Stroke". Wanda was also acknowledged as the
Vice President of the Metro Tulsa Health Initiatives Division.
Congratulations Wanda!

Health Careers Exploration and Awareness
Wanda Holmes is the staff member with focus on Health Career Exploration and Awareness. Camp Scrubs It’s a Guy Thing was held in August with 29 students attending. This is the second year for the camp and is a partnership between NE and Tulsa Community College Nursing and Continuing Education Divisions. The camp offers a “hands-on” opportunity for males to explore nursing as a career. Tours of local hospitals and male nurses sharing their career stories along with bioterrorism education and a mock exercise makes this camp educational and popular with students. NE also partnered with the Muskogee Housing Authority and HCOP to help with the planning and implementation of their camps. NE offers many opportunities for students to explore health careers. Some of these opportunities are:

• shadowing health professionals in their work settings
• attending college and university interactive classes
• forensics lab
• observing surgeries at local hospitals
• life skills
• career counseling

Camp Scrubs – IT’S A GUY THING!
TCC- Southeast Campus
July 21-24 (M-Th), 8:30am – 4:30pm
Designed for young men ages 10-13
Perform CPR, keep patient records, and work with simulated patient that actually screams and yells
Only $149 – supplies included
Sponsored by Continuing Education, Northeast Area Health Education Center & The Tulsa Police Department
(Summer Enrollment Begins March 3)
For additional information contact Tulsa Community College office of Northeast Continuing Education, (918) 595-7566

Camp M. D. – Medical Detectives
TCC-Metro Campus
June 16-19 (M-Th), 8:30am – 4:30pm
Designed for students ages 10-13
Explore health careers, uncover mysteries through a CSI approach, and more!
Only $149 – supplies included
Sponsored by Continuing Education, Northeast Area Health Education Center & The Tulsa Police Department

Clinical
Dianne Bostic is the staff member with focus on programs concerning clinical healthcare students. Rural clinical rotations are supported for several disciplines and from several different Universities. These rotations offer students insight into the practice of rural medicine and are a means of influencing their choice of where to practice after graduation. Our role in these off campus rotations may include:

• housing assistance
• recruitment and maintenance of preceptors
• community involvement by the students and even curriculum input

The Tar Creek Superfund site in Northeast Oklahoma was developed as a new opportunity for clinical students. Physician assistant students from Kansas and Pennsylvania were also supported in their rural NE Oklahoma internship experiences.

A mental health rotation experience was facilitated for Tulsa Community College nursing students along with Oral Roberts University nursing students’ rural rotation in the Pawhuska community.

African American Tobacco Network
Eugene Johnson through a contract with the Oklahoma State Department of Health has focus on ethnic tobacco issues. This is a state wide project with focus on the:

• prevention of tobacco use by youth
• prevention of exposure to environment tobacco smoke
• promotion of tobacco cessation among youth and adults

A steering committee has been established and is quite active with the identified tasks. Many community activities have been planned, coordinated, and implemented though the steering committee and local community members.

Alzheimers Demonstration Grant
NE AHEC, Tulsa Community College Nursing Division, and the Alzheimers Association wrote and were awarded a grant funded in part by the U.S. Administration on Aging. This is the second completed year of the grant. The grant was written to improve the training of entry level, unlicensed health care professionals, who work with the elderly in long term care sittings. The grant works closely with family members of Alzheimers individuals helping them identify needed services such as respite care. The training is onsite under the direction of a licensed nurse instructor. More than 50 students have completed the training.

Bioterrorism Continuing Education Project
Patty Dainty works with the Bioterrorism grant which currently completed it's first year. Health Care professionals in NE Oklahoma are offered free training in this area. Northeast Oklahoma small rural communities have agreed to host sites for the training.  Pryor, Bristow, Okmulgee, and Bartlesville have participated. A fast track course was held in Tulsa. Health Professionals learn how to recognize a threat as well as how to respond to an attack or natural disaster. This is a collaborative effort through the Area Health Education Centers, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma State Department of Health.

Staff