UMB Pathways for Eastern Shore Healthcare Careers Event at Londonderry on Feb 18

In an ongoing effort to help alleviate the healthcare professional shortage on the Eastern Shore in Maryland, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is working with Londonderry on the Tred Avon to host an event for prospective high school and college students, as well as the surrounding community, to learn more educational pathways.

“Understanding the dire need to meet the healthcare provider shortage and primary care needs of the diverse communities that comprise the nine counties of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the UMB Physician Assistant (PA) program educates and trains 120 graduate-level students annually to help offset these deficiencies. We train those who are dedicated to providing kind and compassionate primary care, with great emphasis on serving the underserved,” Cherilyn Hendrix, DHEd, MSBME, PA-C, DFAAPA, assistant dean for physician assistant education said. “Our students come from all over the state, and many were born and raised on the Shore, intent on returning to serve their communities.”

For more than a year, UMB has worked with the Eastern Shore community to help bring awareness to the programs UMB has to offer, raise money for rural scholarships for local students to attend UMB and return to the Eastern Shore to practice, develop partnerships for rural health training programs and more.

This continued partnership with the Eastern Shore builds on programs like Rural Health Equity and Access Longitudinal Elective (R-HEALE), which is run out of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) that aims to educate medical students to gain a deeper understanding of rural medicine to better relate the field to their future goals and aspirations. The program connects UMSOM’s school with the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (UMES), whose purpose is to train physicians who will practice in underserved areas of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Now, UMB is expanding those connections to include other schools within the University aside from UMSOM, including the University of Maryland Schools of Nursing (UMSON), Pharmacy (UMSOP), Graduate Studies (UMGS), and Social Work (UMSSW).

“With pharmacists as medication experts and integral members of interdisciplinary health care teams, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is excited to participate with other UMB schools to promote this important initiative, the goal of which is to generate a robust health care workforce on the Eastern Shore,” Leah Sera, PharmD, MA, BCPS, associate professor and associate dean of recruitment and admissions, said.

The Feb. 18 event will include admission deans from five of the schools, who will participate in a panel to provide information about healthcare career paths, as well as what preparation is needed to be accepted. There will be time for questions, as well as individual connections.

“I am honored to be part of the effort to build a pathway of students from the Eastern Shore to The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), with the goal of empowering them to return and help address the critical nursing provider gaps in the region,” Sheena Jackson MS, vice president for admissions and enrollment services for UMSON, said. With nearly the entire Eastern Shore designated as a medically underserved area and a health professional shortage area, it’s vital to increase awareness among residents about the nursing programs we offer. By connecting Eastern Shore communities with the exceptional opportunities at UMSON, we can work together to create sustainable solutions and improve access to healthcare for this underserved region.”