UNE and Maine Area Health Education Center Network welcome new Mainers

UNE and Maine Area Health Education Center Network welcome new Mainers

The Maine Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network partnered with several programs at the University of New England to bring 20 high school students from the New Mainers Public Health Initiative (NMPHI) to visit UNE’s Biddeford and Portland campuses.  In an effort to increase the diversity of Maine’s healthcare workforce, Maine AHEC Network has collaborated with NMPHI to expose high school students who are the children of immigrants and refugees to healthcare careers.

Karen O’Rourke, M.P.H., director of the Maine AHEC Network explained, “Many immigrant and refugee parents are unfamiliar with the educational system in the U.S. and many did not attend colleges themselves, so it’s important for us to create an avenue for these students to explore the education and career opportunities that are available to them, and become more comfortable with the application process and college environment.”

NMPHI is a health related, ethnic-based organization serving the needs of immigrant and refugee youth and their families. Their goal is to empower, inform and educate new Mainers in order to decrease health disparities. The UNE visit was part of NMPHI’s pilot program funded by the Maine AHEC Network, which targets juniors and seniors in high school in the Lewiston/Auburn area of Maine and does the following: involves students and parents in the process of entering the healthcare field; provides mentorship for students and encourages them to enter healthcare fields; provides access to job shadows at local hospitals and pharmacies; involves the elders as the community leaders to discuss the value of education; and facilitates student tours of local universities and connects them with academic advisers.

While visiting UNE, the students received a presentation from Undergraduate Admissions and toured both campuses, including a tour of UNE’s Oral Health Center. They learned about careers in the nutrition field from SNAP-Ed senior nutrition program coordinator and Nutrition Program faculty Anne-Marie Davee, M.S., R.D., L.D., and about careers as physician assistants from Joe Wolfberg, M.S., adjunct professor in the Physician Assistant Program. Faculty and students from the College of Pharmacy created an experiential learning activity that allowed the students to try their hands at creating a simulated medical compound. 

“This type of program is so crucial,” says Zoe Hull, M.P.H., program manager for Maine AHEC Network who helped organize the event together with NMPHI’s Executive Director, Abdulkerim Said, B.A.S., B.H.P., C.H.W. “not only because we have a dwindling healthcare workforce in Maine, but also because we can’t expect to meet the needs of all Mainers if our healthcare workforce doesn’t reflect the increasing diversity of our state.”

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.