Area Health Education Center programs educate and encourage students interested in medical professions

More than 35,000 teens and young adults have participated in Michigan Area Health Education Center pipeline programs designed to offer middle and high school students the chance to explore health careers and receive mentorship through hands-on learning.  These programs increase diversity in the health care workforce by exposing students from rural and underprivileged backgrounds to the health professions.

The Health Careers Pipeline Program is a nine-week course for 9th and 10th-grade high school students considering a career in health care.  Students learn how to improve their own health and well-being, discover new intellectual strengths and are encouraged to continue post-secondary education in the health professions.  The Western HCPP was facilitated by medical student instructors from MSU and introduced 22 health careers to 40 students from 14 different high schools in Grand Rapids. The Mid Central AHEC hosted two HCPP sessions, one is the fall on CMU’s Mount Pleasant campus and one in the spring at the CMU College of Medicine facility in Saginaw.  Each program was attended by 20 to 25 high school students working with medical student facilitators and student mentors from Central Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University and Delta College.

Maggie Ludwig initially participated in the HCPP in 2016 during her freshman year of high school and said it greatly impacted her decision to study neurosciences at CMU while pursuing a career in medicine as a physician.  Ludwig participated in the HCPP again in 2023 as an undergraduate mentor.  “I’m so happy that I was able to come full circle with the program and help other students explore the world of medicine,” she said, “my continued participation in the program has solidified my passion for medicine by opening my eyes to the huge impact that medicine has on society and allowing me to make an impact on others.”

As part of the Thumb Community Health Partnership, AHEC hosted a pipeline program for ten students from the Ruth Fox Middle School in North Branch. Participants mastered proper handwashing techniques and gained valuable insights into taking vital signs and the crucial importance of Personal Protective Equipment.

New this year, AHEC hosted the Hands on Health simulation event for high school students from Huron, Isabella, Lapeer, Saginaw, Sanilac and Tuscola counties at the Covenant HealthCare Simulation Center at the CMU College of Medicine Saginaw Education Building. Fifty participants worked with staff, students and residents in a variety of simulated medical scenarios.

In collaboration with the Western Michigan University School of Nursing and the WMU Pre-College Programs, AHEC introduced All About Nursing! at the Ascension Borgess Navigation Center. Sixty students from Kalamazoo Central and Loy-Norrix high schools spent the day participating in interactive learning with scenarios in wound care, ambulatory care, palliative care, emergency triage, physical therapy and CPR.

This fall in partnership with the College of Medicine and the Herbert H. & Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions, AHEC will launch the new Public Health Pathways program geared towards 9th to 11th-grade high school students from Isabella, Clare, Gratiot and Montcalm counties. CMU Public Health students will serve as mentors and co-facilitators for this initiative.

The Area Health Education Center program developed by Congress in 1971 works to recruit, train and retain a health care workforce committed to underserved populations. CMU’s College of Medicine is the host partner for the Central and Western Area Health Education Center, which serves two geographic regions totaling 38 counties (23 rural and 15 urban). For more information about AHEC initiatives, please email MidCentralAHEC@cmich.edu.