If you could design a toolkit for health professions students that would help them understand a patient\u2019s needs beyond the clinical walls, what would you include? Experiential training in the community? Hands-on patient experiences? Interprofessional collaboration? Mentorship?<\/p>\n
Of course, the ideal toolkit would include all of the above, and that\u2019s exactly what the Connecticut Area Health Education Center (CT AHEC) based at UConn Health offers to more than 360 Connecticut health professions students annually. The Community Based Experiential Training, or CBET, opportunities are coordinated out of the CT AHEC program office in Farmington on the UConn Health campus and four regional centers.<\/p>\n
CT AHEC\u2019s Norwich regional center is now offering UConn health professions students, as well as students from other schools, the opportunity to participate in 36 Inter-professional Education (IPE) Health Clinics this academic year. These free walk-in health clinics are held at food and housing support centers in New London, Norwich, and Willimantic. Under the guidance of licensed clinical preceptors, the clinics provide students with the opportunity to practice basic clinical assessment and communication skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealth care students build their professional toolkits by working with students from other disciplines and getting out in the community and seeing where and how their patients live. Our CBET programs provide them with opportunities to meet patients where they live, work and play,\u201d says Petra Clark-Dufner, director, CT AHEC.<\/p>\n
The IPE clinics attract students from dental medicine, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, physician assistant and community health worker programs. \u00a0In 2024-2025, 155 health profession students participated in the IPE clinics, according to Natalie Crino, program director at the Norwich Health Education Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the heart of our IPE Program is our shared mission: to improve the lives and health of medically underserved community members,\u201d says Crino. \u00a0\u201cThis is made possible through strong partnerships with key community stakeholders. The IPE clinics ensure students learn how to deliver compassionate and equitable\u00a0care to those who need it the most under the guidance of knowledgeable health care preceptors.\u201d \u00a0Students must complete CT AHEC\u2019s online module, Healthcare for Vulnerable Populations<\/em>, to participate.<\/p>\n Kyle Keegan, a second year UConn medical student and Urban Service Track\/AHEC Scholar, said “the IPE clinics provided me with an amazing opportunity to connect with the community, work with peers from various specialties, and learn from both patients and providers outside the hospital setting.\u201d<\/p>\n Keegan said one of his most memorable moments at an IPE clinic was when the preceptor, Dr. Stephen Smith, identified a potentially serious health concern in one of Keegan\u2019s patients. \u00a0Smith took the time to educate Keegan on the patient\u2019s problem, and the following week the health condition was discussed in class, and Keegan said he was able to connect the experience with the lecture.<\/p>\n \u201cExperiences like this have both strengthened my clinical knowledge and my ability to connect patients to resources in their communities. Overall, the IPE clinics have been a fantastic experience in terms of broadening my medical knowledge and working directly with community partners and patients,” said Keegan.<\/p>\n Community-based health clinics also benefit people in the community, especially those who are not accustomed to personalized attention. Dr. Gary Rhule, a preceptor for the CT AHEC sponsored 2nd<\/sup> Annual Men\u2019s Health Event, told students after the event that \u201cCommunity participants will always remember how you and your colleagues treated them in a positive way today. \u00a0And I think your work here today will lay the groundwork for them having better relationships with health care professionals in the future. Well done!\u201d<\/p>\n The IPE Clinics are just one of the many educational opportunities offered by CT AHEC to high school and college students throughout the state.<\/p>\n \u201cCT AHEC\u2019s role in promoting and supporting robust community-based experiential training is critical to the training of tomorrow\u2019s health and public health professionals,\u201d said Clark-Dufner.\u00a0 \u201cWith state-wide coverage, the CT AHEC Network brings essential resources to local communities and health profession students in training.\u201d<\/p>\n CT AHEC has trained thousands of health professions students since its inception 28 years ago.<\/p>\n