A grant-funded workforce development pipeline network is providing new medical training, specifically about telehealth, to high school and technical college students in rural areas of South Carolina.
The South Carolina Rural Telehealth Workforce Pipeline Network, was established in 2022 after the Medical University of South Carolina’s Center for Telehealth received a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The network aims to expand public health capacity by supporting health care job development, training and placement in rural communities such as Williamsburg, Florence, Marion, Lancaster, Chester, and Kershaw counties.
The network brings together statewide collaborations, including the MUSC Regional Health Network, which includes the new Black River Medical Center; Florence-Darlington Technical College; The Continuum training and workforce center; Palmetto Care Connections; and the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium.
“We partnered with Florence Darlington Technical College, where we’re training their instructors to deliver telehealth education and have it integrated into their curriculum, said Elana Wells, telehealth grants initiatives manager at MUSC. “Additionally, through partnership with Pee Dee Area Health Education Center, we’ve trained their team to deliver telehealth education into the local high schools.”
Classroom training for telehealth includes firsthand experience using telehealth equipment, such as TytoCare, a device that allows health care providers to examine patients remotely.
“They can take temperatures, they can look into ears, back into mouths. So, it's a really neat experience for them,” said Subira Smalls, health careers program coordinator for Pee Dee AHEC. “The goal of the program is to create awareness for students around telehealth.”
