Underrepresented in Medicine
Acting Internship Supplemental Program for Visiting Students who are Underrepresented in Medicine
MAHEC Family Medicine is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and excellence. We aim to create and maintain a diverse pipeline of faculty, residents, students, and staff throughout our department. This visiting student program for students underrepresented in medicine is one avenue through which we intend to demonstrate this commitment while also learning from those from diverse backgrounds. We aim to offer financial support through this program in order to offer equitable access to our Acting Internships. We appreciate your interest in our residency programs and look forward to working with you.
"Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population."
We are leaning into this definition outlined by the AAMC and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) initiatives. In Western North Carolina, we recognize that our regional healthcare landscape involves a predominantly white population, of both providers and patients. As the largest non-profit healthcare provider in our area, and with an incredibly large patient population of diverse individuals despite this regional demographic, our program is working to diversify our medical workforce and to maintain a welcoming environment to people of all backgrounds.
| County | North Carolina | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 271,534 | 10,551,162 |
| % Below 18 Years of Age | 17.9% | 21.8% |
| % 65 and Older | 21.0% | 17.0% |
| % Non-Hispanic Black | 5.9% | 21.3% |
| % American Indian or Alaska Native | 0.6% | 1.6% |
| % Asian | 1.5% | 3.4% |
| % Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| % Hispanic | 7.2% | 10.2% |
| % Non-Hispanic White | 82.9% | 61.9% |
| % Not Proficient in English | 2% | 2% |
| % Female | 51.8% | 51.1% |
| % Rural | 24.1% | 33.9% |
Buncombe County, NC, is Metropolitan (intersecting an urban core area of 50,000 or more population) and is connected to the city of Asheville. In Buncombe County, 24.1% of the population lives in a low population density area (500 or fewer people per square mile and less than 2,500 people). Buncombe County contains neighborhoods which experienced intentional disinvestment through Federal HOLC Redlining between 1935 and 1940.
A four-week elective with the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program - Asheville
Students serve as acting interns along with the family medicine patient care team on the family medicine hospital service at this 815-bed teaching hospital. Supervision will be by MAHEC family medicine residency faculty. Daily activities include rounds, conferences, patient work-ups, supervised procedures and other in-patient management. Students are included in the call schedule with the family practice residents on service (one Saturday).
A four-week outpatient elective with the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program - Asheville
Students will see Family Medicine continuity patients alongside MAHEC FM attendings and residents on our main Biltmore campus. Students will have the opportunity to see patients independently and then present the patient, including their plan, to the doctor seeing the patient. We encourage students to make a commitment to a plan of their own, documenting in the chart and truly practicing being an outpatient intern. Students on this rotation will have contact with a large number of faculty and residents and will experience practicing with integrated teams of behavioral medicine, pharmacy, and nutrition faculty. Didactics are comprised of morning conferences and Wednesday afternoon resident didactics including simulations.
A four-week elective: two weeks in Asheville and two weeks in Hendersonville. This rotation will give students the opportunity to experience both residency programs.
During the two-week Asheville portion, students will see patients in the MAHEC Family Health Center as part of the residency program practice with mostly faculty and some upper level residents. Students will participate in morning learning conferences that include X-rays, dermatology, procedures and behavioral health. Students are required to attend weekly didactics. One half day is spent in the inpatient setting observing the family practice service.
During the two-week Hendersonville portion, students will see patients at MAHEC's Rural Family Medicine Residency Program in Hendersonville. Students work one-on-one with full-time faculty and residents caring for patients in the multiple residency clinics. Depending on season and interest, other activities include afternoons at the resident-run clinic for people experiencing homelessness, mornings at the procedure clinic, group visits and community outreach visits at migrant farmworker camps during the summer. Students will occasionally be able to round in the 200-bed hospital on mornings, following several patients and working with residents and faculty assigned to the hospital service. The rotation will include a didactics afternoon and may include two call nights with an upper level resident and faculty.
Community engagement opportunities for URiM Visiting Student Program are available if you are interested during one afternoon per week (exception, FMME 421 will only have 3 weeks due to a night float component of this rotation).
We seek to work with you regarding your interests and self-identity to allow us to best coordinate these experiences on your behalf, if you choose to participate.
Examples of opportunities:
Housing via AHEC Housing will be provided free of charge for up to 30 days. Up to an additional $750.00 will be reimbursed by the MAHEC Department of Family Medicine for accepted students to offset cost of travel expenses to participate. Jasmine Wood (visiting student coordinator) will assist in arranging housing.
