TBR--ETSU-Kellog Partnership

Board of Regents school producing new generation of health professionals:
Physicians, nurses gain unique skills to best serve rural communities

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The face of rural medicine is changing in East Tennessee due to a collaborative effort between East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Established in 1991, the Foundation's Kellogg Community Partnerships Program has brought ETSU some $9.3 million in grants – money that is benefiting several upper East Tennessee communities.

One group of citizens in particular is being positively affected by ETSU's Community Partnerships Program. Hispanic residents in the counties of Unicoi, Hawkins, Washington, Cocke and Hancock have benefited from translation services by students for health, legal and educational matters. They have also received support through health fairs, new communication channels, a regional advisory board and a student interest group on migrant health In addition, ETSU graduates are opening medical practices in the area, a move that is reducing or eliminating health profession shortages in rural areas. Current students are gaining experiential learning from the program through cohorts in two rural counties.

ETSU's Kellogg Community Partnerships Program, honored recently for academic excellence and quality by the Tennessee Board of Regents, is currently in its third phase. Phase I of the program focused on extending interdisciplinary health sciences programs (medicine, nursing, and public and allied health), while Phase II centered on graduate health professional programs into the 20+ county region of upper East Tennessee. Phase III of the program is expanding the community-based, interdisciplinary educational partnership model into non-health sectors of the university.

"This unique initiative is bringing together hundreds of individuals – faculty, students and citizens – in a truly collaborative effort to build better communities," said Dr. Sidney McPhee, Board of Regents vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.

The program has had specific impact on ETSU as well. The university has seen increases in school health clinics, new primary care services and screenings, youth leadership programs and nutrition education. The program has also produced student-community projects focused on reducing teen pregnancy, tobacco use prevention and risk reduction curriculum.

The Tennessee Board of Regents system, the sixth largest system of higher education in the nation, includes 6 universities, 14 two-year colleges and 26 technical centers. The system enrolls more than 180,000 students annually – with more than 24,000 students enrolled in northeastern Tennessee at East Tennessee State University, Northeast State Technical Community College and Walters State Community College, as well as technology centers at Elizabethton and Morristown.

For more on the ETSU Community Partnerships program contact Bruce Behringer at 423-439-7809, email behringer@etsu.edu or visit the web site at www.etsu.edu.

Community Partnerships in Health Professions Education initiative	$ 1.8 million
Graduate Medical and Nursing Education initiative	$6.0 million
Development and advancement of Health, Social and Economic programs in rural counties	$1. 25 million
	TOTAL $ 9.05 million