Urban Service Track Scholars Map<\/em> connects our past, current and future UST\/AHEC scholars so they can network around residency programs and specialties. They can search by discipline, field and graduation year,\u201d says Cecil Tengatenga, associate director, of the Connecticut Area Health Education Center (CT AHEC), that oversees the UST\/AHEC program.<\/p>\nCT AHEC\u2019s role in promoting and supporting Connecticut\u2019s health care workforce is one piece of the organization\u2019s mission to address health disparities through educational workforce development.\u00a0 As a federally funded program, the CT AHEC Network also extends the resources of the University of Connecticut as well as other partner organizations, to Connecticut\u2019s health care and public health workforce, and to other states and territories.<\/p>\n
CT AHEC is celebrating 28 years in operation at UConn\u2019s medical school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UConn School of Medicine is pleased to contribute to the rigorous training of state and national health care workforce through CT AHEC.\u00a0 \u00a0An investment in health profession learners across disciplines is an investment not only for Connecticut, but the nation,\u201d said Bruce Liang, MD, dean of the UConn School of Medicine.<\/p>\n
As a major engine for UConn\u2019s Primary Care track, 61% of the UST\/AHEC program graduates who have continued their training into residency, have been matched into family medicine\/general practice, Advanced Education in General Dentistry, pediatrics, pediatric dentistry, internal medicine and pharmacy practice.<\/p>\n
Kenia Mansilla, MD, UConn School of Medicine, Family Residency director, and UST\/AHEC faculty, says \u201cOur residency program has integrated community collaborations to enhance our students\u2019 experiential learning to serve better the urban and underserved population we care for in our office in Hartford. UST has been essential and key, creating more opportunities for our residents to work in the community, and at the same time teaching them the skills they need as health care professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UST\/AHEC program covers two universities, four campuses and six disciplines. In addition to students from the schools of medicine, dental medicine and pharmacy, UST\/AHEC students come from nursing, physician assistant, and social work programs. Because the focus is on interprofessional skills, and understanding underserved urban and rural populations, graduates of the two-year UST\/AHEC scholars program bring unique skills and experience to employment and residency training.<\/p>\n
Family Medicine\u2019s Mansilla agrees: \u201cResidents benefit also from the education UST provides on the different vulnerable population in their curriculum. They integrate in their learning experiences in a true interprofessional structure that sometimes is not yet available in their clinical training sites. Serendipitously, they become role models and a resource for those students going through the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
UST\/AHEC graduate Elizabeth \u201cLizzie\u201d \u00a0Suschana, MD is currently in her first year, post grad, at SUNY Downstate Medical Center\/King\u2019s County Hospital in Brooklyn, NY and echoes these sentiments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs one of the bigger institutions in central Brooklyn, we mainly work with underserved populations, including many immigrants and refugees,\u201d says Suschana. \u201cBeing a part of UST in medical school, I built the foundational skills to better serve my patients and take a holistic approach to practicing OBGYN that considers the unique challenges faced by this patient population. As I move forward in my career, staying connected with UST is something that centers me, reminding me why I went into medicine and allowing myself to grow in new capacities as a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
CT AHEC\u2019s Petra Clark-Dufner says the UST\/AHEC graduates often stay connected and return as faculty and mentors. Mansilla agrees: \u201cWhen UST scholars graduate and they go to their next level (e.g. medical and dental students going into residency), many want to connect back and continue being part of UST in their new role as residents. They know how valuable these experiences were for them and simply want to give back to others in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Urban Service Track Scholars Map <\/em>is a valuable tool available to them when they want to know \u00a0\u201cWhere are the UST\/AHEC Scholars?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New interactive online Urban Service Track Scholars Map connects past, current and future UST\/AHEC scholars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":234374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2721,2388,2166,1868,1864,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-234372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-graduate-medical-education","category-healthcare-workforce","category-sdm","category-meds","category-pharm","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 06:01:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234373,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234372\/revisions\/234373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/234374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234372"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=234372"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=234372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}