Conference inspires future mental health professionals

Earlier this month, 45 college undergraduates from across Nebraska met at UNMC to take part in the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) Conference.

Students from Wayne State College, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Peru State College and other institutions attended the two-day event, which is designed to showcase career opportunities in the mental health field and is part of the BHECN Ambassador Program.

BHECN’s goal is to address the shortage of trained behavioral health providers in rural and underserved areas of Nebraska.

Abby Stewart, a sophomore at Wayne State College, has been taking part in BHECN events since she was in high school. This year’s BHECN Conference marked the second straight year she attended the event.

“It’s an awesome conference, and it was great that they opened it up to more students this year,” said Stewart, who hopes to become a pediatric psychiatrist. “I’ve been having great conversations with people.”

Although Stewart has been interested in child/adolescent psychiatry for many years, she appreciated how the BHECN conference illustrated the many areas of the behavioral health field, such as mental health law, nursing and research.

“I was impressed by how well our college students performed in a simulated patient interview we added this year,” said Howard Liu, M.D., director of BHECN. “Their ideas for dispelling mental health stigma were powerful. This will be a generation that will transform behavioral health care!”

This is the third year for the ambassador program, but the college conference has been held since 2010.

“We are always excited to host interested students here at UNMC,” said Ann Kraft, BHECN Ambassador Program Coordinator. “It’s even more rewarding when you see former Ambassador participants a year or two later enrolled at UNMC.”