Recruitment & Retention Committee Minutes, June 15, 2009
WVRHEP RECRUITMENT & RETENTION
Committee Meeting
Days Inn, Flatwoods
Attending: Dave Brown, Patricia Crawford, Tom Hefner, Lew Holloway, Sandra Y. Pope, Jo Ann Raines, Anna Reno, Bob Whitler. Staff: Alicia Tyler. Absent: Terri Bliziotes, Jay Bonfili, Amber Crist, Deborah Curry, Norm Ferrari, Denise Landry, Sharon Lansdale, Barbara Kupchak, Melissa Wheeler. Guests: Dennis McCutcheon, Jodie Jackson, Jim Arbogast, Alison Witte.
Tom Hefner, Committee chairman, opened the meeting. The minutes of the November 10th meeting were approved on motion (Raines/Reno).
RECRUITMENT & RETENTION COMMITTEE
Tom Hefner gave a presentation on the history of the Committee, which was created in statute in 1998 as part of the RHEP program. The committee’s role is to coordinate statewide efforts, report to the Legislature, and recommend statutory and regulatory changes. The committee also recommends Health Sciences Scholarship (HSSP) awards to the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences. State scholarship and loan repayment programs, including those in the Bureau for Public Health and HSSP, support recruitment and retention of West Virginia graduates in rural areas: 35% of the physicians, 46% of the nurse practitioners/nurse educators, and 28% of the physician assistants who are currently in practice.
MEDICAL STUDENT ROTATION POLICY
Jodie Jackson discussed the proposed revision to current policy. The purpose of the revision is to accommodate medical students whose site qualifies as a shortage site, but whose preceptor is not at the site 5 days/week. The revision would allow credit if students are with the preceptor 3 out of 5 days each week and spend the other 2 days with another rural preceptor or at an approved exception site. The preceptors must have faculty appointments with the student’s medical school. A question was raised as to how many medical students are receiving 2 months credit for a one-month rotation (rotating in Level III site). Jodie said she will find out and report back.
►The committee voted to approve the proposed policy revision for medical student rotations on motion (Brown/Whitler).
STAFF REPORT - MENTAL HEALTH EXPANSION
Alicia reported on a conference call held by a subcommittee to discuss implementation of the Health Sciences Scholarship awards to mental health disciplines (social work and clinical psychology). An additional $100,000 was appropriated by the Legislature for this expansion. Dr. Betsy Randall, coordinator of the WVU-Charleston Social Work program, discussed educational and supervision requirements for students who are training to become Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSWs). The subcommittee discussed marketing the program to eligible students. Jo Ann Raines suggested making all application materials available on the web, which the group agreed was a good strategy. Another change endorsed by the subcommittee was to add facilities such as behavioral health centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and veterans’ health facilities to the list of eligible sites.
Another issue discussed was giving credit for the HSSP service obligation to individuals working less than full-time. All agreed that some flexibility is needed on a case-by-case basis, particularly with the increased number of women in the physician workforce. Contracts could stipulate a longer service obligation to allow the individual to work less than full-time. In other words, the service obligation would be prorated. Staff will implement this policy.
The subcommittee included: Jodie Jackson, Jo Ann Raines, Dave Brown, and Terri Bliziotes.
The meeting was adjourned.