COM employee spotlight

Name: Nicole Carritt
 
Title: Deputy director and program manager, Nebraska AHEC program;
Director, rural health initiatives
 
Hometown: Pisgah, Iowa
 
Talk about your job and what you like best about it: 

While no two days are the same, the work is always focused on improving the health of Nebraskans.

As the deputy director and program manager of the Nebraska Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program, I provide leadership, direction and general oversight of the statewide program by collaborating with both academic and community partners across the state, including a network of five AHEC centers to recruit, train and retain health care professionals to serve in rural and underserved urban areas.
 
Through the AHEC program, we provide educational programs and services like structured job shadowing and health career clubs that expose students to health careers, support and enhance community-based and clinical training opportunities for pre-health and health profession students, and provide accessible continuing education for primary care providers. 
 
With a great team in the UNMC Department of Family Medicine and our partners across campus and across the state, the Nebraska AHEC program has developed and implemented new programs like the AHEC Scholars Program, begun advising the UNMC Student Association of Rural Health (SARH), led new regional collaborations related to continuing education, and served in leadership roles within the National AHEC Organization over the past two years.  It is exciting and rewarding to see a stronger and more robust program emerging that better supports student to success throughout the pipeline.

In the relatively new role of director of UNMC's rural health initiatives, my position involves providing strategic and operational direction and coordination for a wide variety of rural health programs and initiatives that ultimately improve the coordination and synergy of work occurring at UNMC and with partners across the state. 
 
Specific examples include coordinating the execution of the UNMC Rural Health 2030 Action Plan and the revitalization of UNMC's guaranteed admission programs (e.g., RHOP and KHOP).  The health care system is changing rapidly, and through this work and the leadership and commitment of numerous individuals across the institution, we are committing to playing a vital role in partnering with rural Nebraska to meet current and future rural health needs.   

It's hard to describe one aspect of my job that I like best, but having the ability to work alongside some of the brightest, most committed and hardworking individuals – from students to faculty to community leaders across the state – toward a common mission is a daily inspiration.
 
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