As you may have noticed, the Illinois Area Health Education Centers Network website looks a little different. The new website highlights our regional centers, their programs and what it’s like to live and work in their communities. The diversity of Illinois, its communities and residents is evident when you pursue the work of the various centers. Continue reading →

Interested in gaining valuable experience in a rural community? Seeking leadership experiences that will prepare you enter the healthcare workforce? Please check out the following summer opportunities, which vary in location, benefits, and duration. Continue reading →

The association of suicide, violence and methamphetamine use has been documented over the years. Most of us are aware of the problems faced by our Illinois communities. In South Dakota, one Indian tribe is taking action.

Julian Bear Runner, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe has declared a state of emergency over homicides and methamphetamine use on the Pine Ridge Reservation. “We live in a constant state of crisis and trauma,” he said. “My heart hurts for those families who’ve lost loved ones recently. . . As president, I will do all in my authority to carry out your will, to defend our homelands and create a safe place to raise our families.” Continue reading →

As summer 2019 came to a close, serious pulmonary illnesses associated with e-cigarettes, commonly referred to as vaping, became a national issue. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an interim guidance document which urged health care facilities and clinicians to investigate vaping-use related to serious lung-related illness (EVALI). (See our previous post.) Continue reading →

The Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative is recruiting Research Fellows for summer 2020. This program, housed in the University of Illinois Cancer Center, is designed for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students who plan to attend medical school or a graduate health professions training program. The summer program is an eight week, full-time stipend bearing opportunity that includes research training, community engagement and the possibility of a year-round experience on a specific research team. Continue reading →

Four students from the Urban Medicine program rewrote an American Medical Association resolution and got it passed at the Association’s recent meeting. Jessie Klugman, Soobin Kim, Alex Kenefake, and Maya McKeown collaborated to rework the resolution to better support students nationally who are living with sickle cell disease (SCD). Continue reading →

Over the past several weeks, many news outlets have been reporting serious pulmonary illnesses associated with e-cigarettes, commonly referred to as vaping. Illness has been reported in a variety of  locales by clinical sites and health departments; at this time, data from 25 states is available. On September 6, 2019, the New England Journal of Medicine highlighted the situation in Illinois and Wisconsin. In a detailed report using data from the Centers for Disease and Prevention, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the authors identified 53 individuals, 50 of whom received in-patient treatment, as part of a pulmonary disease cluster. Continue reading →