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Ambassador Home
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Small Steps for Taking Action
Thank you for your commitment to improving the health
of individuals and communities across America, and your initiative
in inspiring a new generation of primary care providers. With your
leadership as an Ambassador and the resources made available to you by
the NHSC, together we can make a difference.
While helping us recruit for our programs is
important, the real difference you will make is in motivating students
and clinicians to use their training to serve in high-need communities,
encouraging them to pursue opportunities in these places, and preparing
them for successful careers. Here are some ideas that will help you in
the four Ambassador focus areas.
Ideas for Recruitment-Oriented Activities
- Schedule
information sessions to talk about the need and how the NHSC
addresses it. Use the DVD, “A Story of Heroes,” as a
presentation tool, or download a PowerPoint presentation from the
NHSC Ambassador website.
- Familiarize
yourself with the NHSC through the by reviewing the Communities,
Students and Clinicians Brochures available
through the NHSC. Offer copies of these brochures to
promising applicants.
- NHSC
programs are competitive, and not all qualified applicants will
receive awards. Encourage prospective applicants to apply, guide
them through the application process as needed, but make sure a
commitment to serve is at the heart of their decision to pursue
application to the NHSC.
Ideas for Preparing Students and Clinicians
- Promote
NHSC’s SEARCH program,
which offers health professions students and primary care residents opportunities to work in
community-based health care facilities as available.
- Work
with local clinics or other Ambassadors to develop clinical rotation
opportunities in community-based clinics.
- Incorporate
NHSC’s primary care learning modules
available on the NHSC Ambassadors website into your curriculum or
use them for workshops or one-on-one sessions.
- Encourage
students to learn a foreign language of relevance to a particular
population. A primer on medical
Spanish is available from the NHSC website.
How You Can Be an Effective Mentor
- Be
available, and let the students and clinicians you interact with
come to you with questions or concerns. Suggest a casual one-on-one
conversation to help get the process started.
- Let
your protégé set the tone and pace for the mentoring relationship,
but establish some structure. Use NHSC’s
mentoring resources, available on the Ambassadors website, to help
structure your mentoring sessions.
- Share
your experiences, but be responsive to your protégé’s
individual concerns and needs.
Ideas for Advocacy and Promoting the Need
- Promote
the NHSC Job Opportunities
List, an online career resource containing information on
thousands of jobs at clinics nationwide. Any primary care
professional with an interest in serving a community in need can
apply for these positions.
- Identify
state and local partners that can provide resources or information
about nearby underserved communities. Establish connections with
local agencies serving populations in need to find out how to start
a volunteer program for students and clinicians interested in
working with them.
- Participate
in National Primary Care Week.
Organize activities around this annual event to highlight the
role of primary care and interdisciplinary practice.
- Send
a postcard to a former colleague, fellow clinician, or friend, and
let them know you’re involved with the NHSC. Introduce them to
issues in primary care and let them know what they can do to help.
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California
Ambassador Blends Goal of
Increasing Minority Enrollment with NHSC Mission
For Les Howard, having a sense of mission in one's life is
inextricably tied to community and responsibility. This is what he
learned growing up disadvantaged himself. It is how he lives his
life, and it is the single-most important message that he brings to
the students under his careful watch. As program director of the San
Joaquin Valley College (SJVC) Primary Care Physician Assistant (PA)
Program he sees himself perfectly positioned to pass on the values
and resourcefulness that have inspired his own remarkable life. For
Howard, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is one of his most
important allies in the task of sending the best and brightest of his
graduates to care for California's
underserved communities.
Read
more
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