The
Student/Resident Experiences And Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH)
program is a nationally recognized program, funded by the
National Health Service Corps (NHSC), in which qualified health
professional students and residents are offered training opportunities
at Community and Migrant Health Centers (C/MHCs) located in urban and
rural underserved areas.
The
Illinois
SEARCH program was established in January of 2000 by the Illinois Health
Education Consortium/AHEC (IHEC)
and the
Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA).
The program started placing students within rotations beginning in
January of 2001. The goal of this program is to have students gain
valuable hands-on clinical and community health experiences by working
on multi-disciplinary teams and providing care in Health Professional
Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) in
Illinois.
The Illinois
SEARCH program consists of two components:
- Clinical Rotation at a SEARCH site
- Illinois SEARCH Curriculum
There are 12 community
health centers in the state of Illinois that are currently participating
as SEARCH sites where students and residents can do clinical rotations.
Many of the faculty precepting SEARCH students undergo faculty
development training through the SEARCH program in order to provide
quality learning experiences for students. The Illinois SEARCH
curriculum is designed to supplement the clinical rotation by providing
information on community health issues that impact the delivery of
health care.
For
applications and additional information, please visit the
SEARCH page on IHEC's website.
