Developing a Diverse Rural Healthcare Workforce: Recruitment, Retention, and Clinical Training

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Recording:

Agenda:

8:00 am – 8:15 am – Check in

8:15 am – 8:30 am –  Welcome & Introductions

• Steve Palmer (ABRC Co-lead), PhD – NAU Department of Health Sciences
• Oaklee Rogers (workshop host), PhD, OTR/L – NAU College of Health and Human Services
• David Trotter (workshop host), PhD – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

8:30 am – 8:50 am – New Economy Initiative and NAU College of Health and Human Services contributions

• Lillian Smith, PhD, Dean – NAU College of Health and Human Services

8:50 am – 9:10 am – The Rural Health Professions Workforce: An Overview of Needs, Gaps, and Coming Crises

• Betsy Jones, EdD – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

9:10 am – 9:30 am – The Psychology of Rural Healthcare Education

• Sarah Stringer, DMSc, PA-C, CAQ-Psych – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

9:30 am – 9:50 am – RCBH Empowering Rural Communities thru Workforce Development

• Amanda Aguirre, MA, RD, President and CEO – Regional Center for Border Health, Inc.

9:50 am – 10:10 am – Creating the American Indian Health-Area Health Education Center

• Kim Russell, Director – Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care

10:10 am – 10:30 am – Q&A with speakers

10:30 am – 10:45 am – Break

10:45 am – 11:15 am – Recruiting & Outreach at TTUHSC School of Medicine: Achieving our Mission’s Goal

• Louis Perez, Senior Director of Admissions and Diversity – Texas Tech Univsersity, Health Sciences Center

11:15 am – 11:45 am – Mission Guided Admission – NAU PA Program Perspective

• Mary Lou Brubaker, PharmD, PA-C – NAU Department of Physician Assistant Studies

11:45 am – 12:00 pm – Student experience panel

12:00 pm – 12:15 pm – Q&A with speakers and students

12:15 pm – 1:00 pm – Lunch

1:00 pm – 1:20 pm – Native Journey to Academic Success (NJAcS) program: Promoting Resilience among Native American
Students

• Regina Eddie, PhD – NAU School of Nursing

1:20 pm – 1:40 pm – Supporting learners from small communities at TTUHSC School of Medicine

• Lauren Cobbs, MD, MEd – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

1:40 pm – 2:20 pm – Supporting Students and Clinical Supervisors during Rural Health Rotations

• Gina Buban, OTD, OTR/L – NAU Department of Occupational Therapy
• Zach Sneed, PhD, CRC, LCDC, BC-TMH – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

2:20 pm – 2:35 pm – Student experience panel

2:35 pm – 3:00 pm – Q&A with speakers and students

3:00 pm – 3:15 pm – Break

3:15 pm – 3:45 pm – Sticking the landing: Helping graduates find their first job

• Fred Onger, MD, FAAFP – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

3:45 pm – 4:45 pm – Job recruitment panel discussion

• Kim Russell, Director – Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care
• Joena Ezroj, MEd, WAHEC Director – Regional Center for Border Health, Inc.
• Sarah Stringer, DMSc, PA-C, CAQ-Psych – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center
• Betsy Jones, EdD – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center
• Fred Onger, MD, FAAFP – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm – Closing remarks

Speakers:

Workshop Hosts:

Oaklee Rogers, PhD, OTR/L – NAU College of Health and Human Services

Dr. Oaklee Rogers is the Assistant Dean for the College of Health and Human Services at Northern Arizona University, located at the Phoenix Bioscience Core (PBC). She has also served as the Department Chair and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator in the Occupational Therapy (OT) Program. Dr. Rogers has designed and taught numerous courses related to education, leadership, mental health, and scholarship. She has also served in various leadership roles at the Department, College, and University levels.

David Trotter, PhD – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

David Trotter, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Community Medicine and Medical Education, and the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine. He received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Texas Tech University. He then completed a clinical internship in Behavioral Medicine at the Brown Alpert Medical School, and a post-doc in Integrated Primary Care at UMass. While in faculty at TTUHSC he has dedicated his time to the advancement of behavioral sciences education for medical students and residents, and has authored several publications and received HRSA and SAMHSA grand funding focused on rural healthcare workforce development.

Workshop Speakers:

Lillian Smith, PhD – NAU College of Health and Human Services, Dean

Dr. Lillian Upton Smith serves as the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS), the third largest and fastest growing college at Northern Arizona University. As part of the new NAU Elevating Excellence Strategic Roadmap, CHHS works to improve the health and economic wellbeing of Arizonians. Through the New Economy Initiative, CHHS prepares more students to stay in Arizona and work in high need and fulfilling careers throughout the state.

Dr. Smith’s work involves developing systems and infrastructure within higher education and between the academy and communities to build reciprocal relationships. She builds programs and partnerships through engagement, authentic assessment, improvement planning, and workforce development. Dr. Smith has been Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on contracts and grants totaling nearly $19,000,000. Previously, Dr. Smith served as the Divisional Dean for and a Professor in Public Health and Population Science in the College of Health Sciences at Boise State University. In her earlier career, she has held director, assistant and associate dean positions in practice, community engagement, and academic affairs in schools of public health at the University of South Carolina and West Virginia University. She received her MPH from Emory University in 2001 and her DrPH in 2004, from the University of South Carolina.

Betsy Jones, EdD – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

Dr. Betsy Goebel Jones is the Founding Chairman of the Department of Medical Education at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She is a tenured Professor with an additional appointment in the Department of Family & Community Medicine and was previously named a University Distinguished Faculty member. A faculty member at the Texas Tech School of Medicine since 1992, Dr. Jones is Co-Director of the Family Medicine Accelerated Track, or FMAT, a nationally recognized program to increase the primary care physician workforce, especially throughout Texas. She also serves as Director of the Patients, Physicians, and Populations course, a longitudinal experience for first- and second-year medical students.

Sarah Stringer, DMSc, PA-C, CAQ-Psych – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

Sarah Stringer, DMSc, PA-C, CAQ-Psych is an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Physician Assistant Program. She received her Doctorate of Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg in 2022 and her Masters of Physician Assistant Studies in 2013. Dr. Stringer has 10 years of experience as a Physician Assistant specializing in psychiatry and addiction medicine, and 3 years of experience as a faculty member.

She serves her PA Program as the Admissions Chair. Dr. Stringer is an executive board member for the Permian Basin Regional Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse. She was awarded the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Physician Assistant Education Association Grant in 2020 for the implementation of substance use disorders teaching in Physician Assistant education. Sarah’s passion and research agenda lies in fighting the stigma suffered by underserved populations, especially those with mental illness and substance use disorders, and has been invited to national and local conferences to present her findings.

Amanda Aguirre, MA, RD, President and CEO – Regional Center for Border Health, Inc.

Former Arizona State Senator Amanda Aguirre presently serves in the capacity of President & CEO of the Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. since 1991 and its subsidiary San Luis Walk-In Clinic, Inc., a primary care rural health medical center. Ms. Aguirre has been involved for more than 35 years in health care and business administration. She possesses a life-long commitment to education and in 2007 she established a licensed post–secondary vocational training center in the area of allied health training, which has generated job opportunities for over 3,500 individuals. Ms. Aguirre has built these corporations that have become multi-million-dollar corporations providing employment for 474 employees. Ms. Aguirre also worked for Arizona Western College from 1995-1999 as the South Yuma County Campus Director.
In 2003 Ms. Aguirre became the first female and first Hispanic to represent District 24 (new legislative district 4) in the Arizona House of Representatives and in the Arizona State Senate (in 2006) where she served in the Arizona State Senate through 2010. Ms. Aguirre has lived in Yuma, Arizona for the last 35 years. Her commitment to education is lifelong since she was raised by parents who both were elementary school teachers. Her Democratic values come from her parent who taught her to work hard and to serve her community before everything else.

Ms. Aguirre holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. In 1981 received her Master Degree from the California State University in Los Angeles, California with emphasis in Nutrition and Dietetics. In April 2013, Ms. Aguirre completed a Certificate Program in Executive Leadership for Healthcare Professionals at Cornell University (online). In July 2005 Ms. Aguirre completed a Training Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

In October she received the 2022 Women Achievers Award in Healthcare Services as well as the 2021 Leaders of the Year in Public Policy by the Arizona Capitol Times. In 2021 received the Hall of Fame from Arizona Western College. In May 2022, Ms. Aguirre was invited to join the Flinn Foundation Arizona Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee. Since 2020, Ms. Aguirre joined the Arizona Center for Rural Health, Health Workforce Advisory Board, University of Arizona. In January 2018, Ms. Aguirre was invited to join the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Advisory Committee by the University of Arizona, also in December 2017 became member of the NAU Advisory Committee for the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative (SHERC).

Kim Russell, Director – Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care

Kim Russell is of the Bitter Water People, born for the Tangle People. Her maternal grandfathers are of the Coyote Pass Clan and her paternal grandfathers are of the Bitter Water People. Ms. Russell is from Chinle, Arizona and a citizen of the Navajo Nation. Ms. Russell is the Director of the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care, an independent state agency whose mission is to advocate for increasing access to high quality health care programs for all American Indians in Arizona. Kim has worked with Tribes, Tribal Organizations, the Indian Health Service, and Urban Indian Health Programs to advance their health agendas and priorities her entire career. Ms. Russell received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Master’s of Health Administration. Kim enjoys spending time with family and her puppy nephews and puppy niece and traveling.

Louis Perez, Senior Director of Admissions and Diversity – Texas Tech Univsersity, Health Sciences Center

Louis is the Senior Director of Admissions for the School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, TX. He has been in admissions for over 10 years; all with TTUHSC School of Medicine. Louis believes that bringing resources to those interested in pursuing a career in medicine is important. A goal of his is to continue to expand their current offering of pipeline programs that help reach individuals in West Texas and beyond.

Mary Lou Brubaker, PharmD, PA-C, FASHP – NAU Department of Physician Assistant Studies

Dr. Mary Lou Brubaker is a recently retired Northern Arizona University Department of Physician Assistant Studies Associate Clinical Professor, Emerita. She served on the advisory committee of the new physician assistant program in 2011. In 2013 she joined the academic team as a part-time faculty member and transitioned to full-time in 2015.

Dr. Brubaker was graduated from the University of Iowa with a BS in Pharmacy and followed with a Doctor of Pharmacy from Idaho State University. She was graduated from Midwestern University, Glendale, with a BS in Physician Assistant. Her career has included positions as a hospital clinical pharmacist, founding director of the pharmacy, founding Pharmacy Residency Director and a family practice physician assistant at North Country Community Health Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. She started her relationship with NAU in 1984 as a part-time faculty member providing pharmacology education for nursing and dental hygiene students, and for 9 years with the NAU PA program. Her management experience generated her interest in the admission process for the PA department where she had served as committee chair for 6 years.

Regina Eddie, PhD – NAU School of Nursing

Regina S. Eddie, PhD, RN, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Northern Arizona University. She is an enrolled tribal member of the Dine’ (Navajo) Nation of Arizona. She received her PhD from the University of New Mexico and is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative fellow. Her nursing background and experience has primarily been in areas of community heath and public health nursing in rural, underserved Navajo communities. As a Navajo (Dine’) nurse researcher, her research focuses on American Indian health disparities, health promotion with a focus on school health and wellness policies and practices, and tribal health policy research. Important to her research is the use of socio-ecological and cultural frameworks for their emphasis on health and health behaviors that exists in relation to broader environmental influences.

Lauren Cobbs, MD, MEd – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

Dr. Lauren Cobbs is the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine and an Associate Professor in the Department Medical Education. A general internist by clinical training, Dr. Cobbs has completed a fellowship in clinical ethics and early professional development, and also earned a M.Ed. degree in Educational Psychology with a focus on adult learning. Highly invested in quality leadership development and coaching health professionals toward achieving their personal and professional goals, Dr. Cobbs is an Executive Coach along with being an avid runner and proud mom of an 11 year-old son.

Gina Buban, OTD, OTR/L – NAU Department of Occupational Therapy

Assistant Clinical Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, Gina Buban, OTD, OTR/L earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education at Arizona State University, Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at A.T. Still University, and her post-professional Occupational Therapy Degree at A.T. Still University. For over 10 years, she has been dedicated to the pediatric field, with a focus on working with clients with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Dr. Buban joined Northern Arizona Occupational Therapy Occupational Therapy as adjunct faculty in 2018 where she discovered a new passion and capacity for working in the field. During her time as adjunct faculty, she found it personally and professionally gratifying to support students in tying together NAU’s curriculum and the real world experience of fieldwork. Dr. Buban transitioned to full-time faculty in late 2018 and continues to work for the Northern Arizona University Occupational Therapy Department. During her post- professional studies, Dr. Buban became involved in supporting siblings of child with an I/DD. Her current research interests include sibling support for children with an I/DD, millennials in the workforce, and recruitment strategies for pre-Occupational Therapy students.

Zach Sneed, PhD, CRC, LCDC, BC-TMH – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

Dr. Zach Sneed is the Program Director for Addiction Counseling in the Department of Clinical Counseling and Mental Health at TTUHSC. He also serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and as the Assistant Dean for Outcomes and Assessment in the School of Health Professions. He earned his doctorate in Rehabilitation from Southern Illinois University and has more than 20 years of experience working with people with a variety of disabilities, but especially focused on substance use disorders. He has served as a professional subject matter expert for SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and NBCC – the National Board for Certified Counselors, the Texas Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. His clinical research interests target co-occurring disorders and co-existing disabilities. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly.

Fred Onger, MD, FAAFP – Texas Tech University, Health Sciences Center

Dr. Onger completed his internship at John Peter Smith Hospital in Ft. Worth, Texas. While there, he was awarded the Emergency Medicine Outstanding Intern of the Year before proceeding to Spohn Memorial Medical Center in Corpus Christi for his residency training in Family Medicine. During residency, he was awarded the highest honor for a graduating senior resident: The Physician Excellence Award given to the most outstanding all-around resident physician.

Post-residency, Dr. Onger established a successful rural private medical practice in Abilene, Texas, where he practiced full scope Family Medicine with Obstetrics. He was featured in an Abilene Newspaper as the first black physician to have established a medical practice in Abilene since 1942. While practicing in Abilene, he served as a mentor to medical students and pre-med students, and also taught at the Texas Tech Family and Community Medicine Residency Program at Hendrick Medical Center.
Dr. Onger moved to Lubbock in 2008, joining the Department of Family and Community Medicine as a full-time academician. He is currently the Residency Program Director and Vice-Chair of the department. Dr. Onger has won several teaching service awards, including the Berry N. Squyres Mentor Award, The Best Attending Award, the TTUHSC President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Unsung Hero Award, among others. In 2013, Dr. Onger was elected by the TTUHSC SOM students for faculty induction into Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the National Medical Honor Society.

Dr. Onger is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is the Vice-Chair of the Family Practice Residency Advisory Committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Dr. Onger and his wife, Helen, have four adult children; two in medicine and two in business.
Professional Goal: To train and place doctors in communities where they are needed most in America.

Joena Ezroj, MEd, WAHEC Director – Regional Center for Border Health, Inc.

Joena Ezroj, M.Ed., is currently the director of the Western Arizona Area Health Education Center for Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. where she oversees educational programming and the recruitment and retention of health care professionals in Yuma, La Paz and Mohave counties. Her work experience includes Coordinator and Assistant Clinical Professor for Arizona State University, Instructional Coach for Gadsden Elementary School District, and teacher for Yuma Elementary School District. She is the 2012 Teacher of the Year for Yuma County.

Joena is highly active in the regional area and is the co-chair of the City of Somerton Parks and Recreation Committee, member of the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board Cocopah Tribe Regional Partnership Council, and she is also a member of the Somerton Rotary. Joena holds a bachelors and Masters degree in Education from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Educational Leadership and Administration from Grand Canyon University. Joena believes that success is achieved for communities through servant leadership and building partnerships.

Student Experience Panelists:

Jasmin Diaz – NAU

Amber Rose Seowtewa – NAU

Kofi Agyare – TTU

Workshop Pictures:

Sponsors: