Frontier AHEC
Who are we?
As a longstanding member of the National AHEC Organization, Frontier Area Health Education Center (AHEC) has been devoted to addressing various health care workforce related issues through means of recruiting, training, and retaining health professional individuals. The primary focus of Frontier AHEC is the Frontier AHEC Scholars Program whose mission is to train the next generation of health care leaders for rural Nevada.
Frontier AHEC works in affiliation with the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, and the Office of Statewide Initiatives to serve Nevada’s rural counties.
Frontier AHEC was the first of three AHEC Centers to be funded in 1988. This Federal State Partnership has continued for the past 36 years and continues to support both the Federal and State focus of pipeline programs, through the HRSA Health Workforce Programs.
As listed in the focus areas, AHEC’s strive to improve access to health care through academic-community
partnerships, where these partnerships work to:
- Increase diversity among health workers.
- Broaden the distribution of the health workforce.
- Improve health care quality.
- Improve health care in rural and other high need areas.
Our Mission
The mission of Frontier AHEC is to build health care partnerships between the community and academic professionals to better serve rural Nevada. Frontier AHEC offers a variety of didactic and experiential opportunities that support interprofessional education and behavioral health integration in a primary care setting. Our aim is to provide the necessary resources to our students to help them succeed in their ambition to enter the healthcare workforce as highly trained and skilled individuals that can best serve a
collaborative team.
Become a Frontier AHEC Scholar
Home Base
We are proudly located in Elko, NV, and service rural and frontier counties in Nevada.
Location: 701 Walnut Street, Elko, NV 89801
Phone: 775-327-5070
Frontier AHEC Services
ASPIRE Program: Student to Healthcare Careers | Frontier AHEC K-12 Initiative
The ASPIRE Program is an innovative outreach program targeting high school seniors who are interested in pursuing healthcare careers after graduation from high school. The curriculum of the program includes six core competencies, shadowing/internship/community services opportunities, and college/career readiness skill development.
The aim of the program is to prepare students with the appropriate skills to help them in their efforts to become healthcare professionals. The components taught in this program serve to contribute to the student’s success by teaching them how to properly research careers and colleges, gain insight into their future career through means of shadowing and volunteering, and develop the necessary tools to create professional documents that will help them stand out when applying for college, professional schools, and their later professions.
ASPIRE Program Application Link: 2024-2025 link coming soon.
Princeton Review Materials: ACT & SAT Prep
- Practice Tools & On-Demand Lessons
- Self-Paced
- 365-day online access
- 280+ expert created video lessons
- 21 full length practice tests
- 377+ online drills
- For more information or to register please contact Alexis Kirby.
Frontier AHEC Scholars Program
The Frontier AHEC Scholars Program is a program that aims to train the next generation of health care leaders for rural Nevada. Frontier AHEC Scholars are expected to commit to a 160-hour, two-year learning program that provides with them with various didactic and experiential learning opportunities aimed at supporting them in their educational journey to their healthcare professions.
Focus Areas
- Interprofessional Education
- Behavioral Health Integration
- Social determinants of Health
- Cultural Competency
- Practice Transformation
- Current & Emerging Health Issues
Eligibility
The Frontier AHEC Scholars Program accepts undergraduate level clinical and non-clinical health professional students who:
- Have a current interest in rural or underserved urban health care.
- Are enrolled in a health professional degree program that is at least two years in duration.
Click here to become a Frontier AHEC Scholar today!
For more information or to register please contact Alexis Kirby.
Frontier AHEC Student Ambassador Program (SAP)
The Frontier AHEC Student Ambassador Program is a self-paced pipeline program with a focus on undergraduate level students who are interested in pursuing health related professions. The mission of the program is to build a team of diligent, enthusiastic community leaders who strive to make a difference within the local community and support the mission of Frontier AHEC.
Goals of Program:
- Network of undergraduate level students à emphasis on rural communities
- Foster connections with community organizations
- Prepare for graduate/professional school.
- Strengthen employability skills and professionalism.
- Attending training and workshops with local professionals and community members.
Program Commitment:
Students in the SAP are expected to commit to a 40-hour, two-semester learning program where students must complete at least 20 hours per semester. See 20-hour semester breakdown below:
- 10 hours of required program activities.
- 5 hours with community partners
- 5 hours of AHEC related programming
Eligibility Requirements:
- Undergraduate Student
- Must have at least two (2) academic semesters or minimum of one year left in undergrad.
- Major in a health or health-related field at the community college or university level.
Click here to become a Frontier AHEC Student Ambassador today! – Link coming soon
Princeton Review Materials: NCLEX Prep
- NCLEX-RN 90-Day Q Bank
- 3700+ practice questions with detailed explanations
- 2 directive self-assessments to guide prep
- 1920 practice questions purchased directly from NCSBN
- All of the Next Gen question types covered for your exam success
- NCLEX-RN LiveOnline Course Voucher
- 18 hours of LiveOnline instruction from certified subject matter experts
- 1000+ slides of Study Notes from NCSBN
- 3700+ Q Bank
- 200+ NGN Questions
- 2 directive self-assessments to guide prep
- 365-day access
For more information or to register please contact Alexis Kirby.
Frontier AHEC Scholars Program
The Frontier AHEC Scholars Program is a free-of-cost program that aims to train the next generation of health care leaders for rural Nevada. Frontier AEHC Scholars are expected to commit to a 160-hour, two-year learning program that provides with them with various didactic and experiential learning opportunities aimed at supporting them in their educational journey to their healthcare profession.
Focus Areas
- Interprofessional Education
- Behavioral Health Integration
- Social determinants of Health
- Cultural Competency
- Practice Transformation
- Current & Emerging Health Issues
Eligibility
The Frontier AHEC Scholars Program accepts graduate level clinical and non-clinical health professional students who:
- Have a current interest in rural or underserved urban health care.
- Are enrolled in a health professional degree program that is at least two years in duration.
Click here to become a Frontier AHEC Scholar today!
For more information or to register please contact Alexis Kirby.
Rural Outreach Clinics
The UNR Medicine Rural Outreach Clinics are run by medical students that provide free healthcare services to members of the community. Rural Outreach Clinics are held once a month in locations such as Yerington, Silver Springs, and Fallon. The services provided by medical students are overseen by a local doctor. The free healthcare services offered include general exams for all ages, vaccines, laboratory services, and more!
For more information or to register please contact Lea Pope.
Rural Rotations
4th Year Rural Clerkships
The University of Nevada, Reno is proud to incorporate rural experiences into medical education. During their fourth year, all medical students are required to complete a rural rotation before graduation. The location of the student’s rotations take place in rural Nevada and surrounding rural clinics in northern California. The emphasis of these rotations is to foster positive learning environments through balancing the needs of the students and the needs of each rural clinic offering to support students. All fourth-year medical students are scheduled and placed at locations best matched for students’ personal interests or declared specialty. UNR Med ensures all students travel to and from their rural locations safely and aids in any financial assistance they may need.
For more information regarding 4th year rural clerkships, please contact Lea Pope.
Other Rural Rotations
Outside of 4th year rural clerkships for UNR medical students, Frontier AHEC helps find rotations for health professional students from other disciples. For each of these rotations, Frontier offers free of cost housing for all student’s rotation in Elko, NV.
For more information regarding rural rotations in Elko, NV, please contact Alexis Kirby.
Princeton Review Materials: MCAT & GRE Prep
- MCAT Self-Paced Course
- Comprehensive study at your own pace online course.
- 365 days unlimited 24/7 access
- 17 full length practice tests
- 500+ hours of MedFlix videos + thousands of practice questions
- Set of 9 MCAT books
- MCAT Private Tutoring (3-hour blocks)
- GRE Self-Paced Course
For more information or to register please contact Alexis Kirby.
Project ECHO Nevada
A tele-health linkage connecting university-based faculty specialists to primary care providers in rural and underserved areas to extend specialty care to patients with chronic, costly, and complex medical illnesses. Innovative telehealth technology allows better access to medical resources to assist medical professionals in providing better healthcare to rural communities.
Who can participate:
Project ECHO clinics are open to primary care providers at all levels as well as University-based faculty specialists and community specialists. CME/CE is available to participants who complete the evaluation after each clinic.
Nevada State Public Health Lab Monthly Updates
The Nevada State Public Health Lab (NSPHL) serves the state of Nevada as a first line of defense against public health threats. Led by Mark Pandori, Ph.D., the NSPHL has been an important source of statewide guidance for a variety of laboratory topics.
Dr. Pandori hosts a monthly Zoom series featuring current laboratory topics. These sessions are held on the last Thursday of each month. CE/CME is available to participants who complete the evaluation after each session.
For more information or to register for this series, please contact Jamille Sirotek.
Rural Nevada EMS Conference
The Rural Nevada EMS Conference is an annual 3–4-day conference in Elko, NV that serves to help Nevada EMS personnel better serve their rural communities. For more information, please visit their page.
2024 Conference Dates: September 18-21, 2024
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates regarding the Rural Nevada EMS Conference.
Nevada Health Service Corps (NHSC)
Nevada Health Service Corps (NHSC) is a state loan repayment program for physicians and other health practitioners administered by the Nevada State Office of Rural Health in the Office of Statewide Initiatives based at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine and works closely with Frontier AHEC. The purpose of the program is to encourage health practitioners to provide services in areas of Nevada in which a shortage of that type of practitioner exists. A practitioner may enter the NHSC by engaging in full-time clinical practice in an assigned medically underserved community in exchange for loan repayment funds.
Up to $50,000 tax-free student loan repayment awards are available to eligible practitioners.
NHSC recipients are required to complete two years of full-time service at an approved site located in a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) in any county of Nevada. Continuation contracts of up to $25,000 for one-year terms are available.
The following health care practitioners are eligible for NHSC support: physicians (MD, DO), physician assistants (PA), registered nurses (RN), advanced practice registered nurses (APRN), dentists (DDS, DMD), certified nurse midwives (CNM), mental health counselors, pharmacists (PharmD), marriage and family therapists (MFT), clinical psychologists (PhD), licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), and licensed alcohol and drug counselors (LADC).
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Get Involved
The University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine is committed to helping underrepresented students prepare for medical school, which is why developing and expanding Pathways to Medicine is a priority. Please join us in building stronger Pathways to Medicine. Together, we can help a diverse population of future physicians achieve their dreams and ultimately deliver more equitable health care services to our communities.
To discover ways to support our Pathway to Medicine programs, please visit our website.
For more information, please contact Jamille Sirotek.
Resources
- NVHealthForce.org
- Apartment Housing Available
- Frontier AHEC has apartments available to students who are interested in participating in a rural rotation in Elko, NV. The apartments have limited availability, so please inquire if you are interested in staying at one of our apartments.
- Students eligible to stay in apartments:
- Residents, medical students, physician assistants, BS-MD, TRiO, other health professional students.
- Please contact Jamille Sirotek to inquire about housing.
Community Partnerships
- Nevada Rural Hospital Partners (NRHP)
- Level Up 4 Health (LU4H)
- Great Basin College
- 3RNet