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Special to the Signal

The first session of the Lowndes Academy Health Career Academy opened on Saturday,

Jan. 27 at Hayneville Baptist Church for local high school students.

Funded through a Delta Authority grant, the Southeast Alabama Area Health Education Center (AHEC) team recruited 10th-12th grade students from Calhoun High School, Central High School and Lowndes Academy to apply for 12 available slots in the academy.

​Martha Davis Vignes, MA, executive director, SEA AHEC said,” More than 40 students applied to the program that focuses on health career exploration. “

The Academy will run through August 2018 and will partner with regional academic disciplines

such as Trenholm Nursing, Troy University School of Nursing, Alabama State University Social

Work, and the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Health Professions to provide hands

-on activities and campus tours for the participants, Vignes said.

In addition, other community partners will provide instruction and practical advice on educational requirements for health care disciplines including: Baptist Health Systems Nutrition, the Alabama Department of Public Health, Haynes Ambulance and Life Flight and the Montgomery Family Medicine Residency Program.

“The overall goal of the program is to expand the health care workforce in rural counties by exposing high school students to a wide variety of available health professions at regional colleges,” Vignes said. Other programs offered by Southeast Alabama AHEC include Discovery MedCamp which runs from June 3-8 and will be held at Camp Butter & Eggs in Troy, AL. For more information: www.seaahec.org/career-exploration.

The Southeast Alabama AHEC is a non-profit, grant funded program with a mission to enhance access to quality health care.