CUMBERLAND — Local high school students have the ability to jumpstart a career in health care, thanks to the continued success of a local mentorship program.
AHEC West is celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of its most esteemed educational programs — Exploring Careers in Health Occupations.
Also known as ECHO, the program allows Allegany County students to get an up-close view of careers in public health and dentistry.
The program’s coordinator, Julie Teter, said getting students interested in working in the health care industry would help to fill a much-needed shortage.
It’s her third year coordinating the program, and she also has experience in the industry as a dental hygienist.
Teter, who is also the oral health coordinator for the region, said that Garrett, Allegany and portions of Washington County are located in what is known as “health professional shortage areas.”
“That’s part of what the point of this project is,” she said. “It’s been the goal of it for the last 20 years.”
ECHO aims to diversify and increase the amount of workers in health occupations in Western Maryland in order to increase the accessibility to health care.
“We need providers to come there,” Teter said of UPMC Western Maryland and other local area practices.
“I know we’re lacking in dentists in the area,” said Teter, adding specialities such as pediatrics are shorthanded as well.
The ECHO program focuses on those raised in lower-income households or individuals with unique and diverse backgrounds.
To get students interested in the program, Teter visited area high schools to gauge interest.
This year, the maximum 25 students will be able to join the program.
Those in grades 9 through 12 are eligible to participate.
After students complete the application process, which includes sending in a short introductory video, they are then eligible for a weeklong summer camp.
There’s a $150 fee for the experience, but scholarships and assistance are available.
During the week, students visit several health care facilities across the region and are housed at Frostburg State University’s Edgewood Commons.
Some of these facilities include local hospitals and a field trip to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
“To see it firsthand (is better) than to just have somebody tell them what the possibilities are,” said Lindsay Wood, a grant writer for AHEC West.
Wood was able to help secure a $25,000 grant from the Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund to help with this year’s ECHO summer camp.
Wood said that “training up” the next generation of providers from the area is important because they “know what it means to provide care in these communities.”
Since the region is also challenged in areas such as transportation access and poverty, Wood said increasing student interest in making the region a better place for health care is crucial to ECHO’s mission.
According to Wood, the issues aren’t just unique to Western Maryland — they’re prevalent across Appalachia and throughout much of rural America.
“We’re really fortunate that we’ve had success in encouraging students to pursue careers in health care,” Wood said.
To learn more about the ECHO program and to apply to become apart of it, visit AHEC’s website at https://ahecwest.org/echo/.