Specialty Clinics
NC AHEC-Supported Specialty Clinics Serve More Than 15,000
A child in Lumberton has seizures, headaches, or cerebral palsy. A patient from Henderson has arthritis, lupus, or vasculitis. Where can these individuals turn for help with problems such as these? They can take off time from work and drive up to two and a half hours away for specialized assistance at an academic medical center or they can visit an AHEC-supported outreach specialty clinic.
Michael Tennison, MD, is one of four pediatric neurologists from UNC Hospitals who travel to Lumberton twice a month to see children in need of such specialty care. Last year more than 800 patients received care as a result, including access to 24-hour ambulatory EEG service in Lumberton. The sessions are held at the Lumberton Children’s Clinic and allow the specialists to work in close collaboration with area physicians, nurses, and other providers. “This has resulted in substantial improvements in the care of epilepsy in the area,” noted Tennison. “In the past, patients would drive to Chapel Hill to have the (EEG) device placed, drive back home, then repeat the round-trip after 24-48 hours for further testing.” The clinic also serves the Duke University Physician Assistant Training Program and provides occasional noon lectures for local pediatricians.
Wake AHEC patients in Roxboro, Oxford, and Henderson who require specialty care in rheumatology and immunology are seen by Duke University Medical Center’s Nancy Allen, MD. “Most often, family physicians, internists, and orthopedists request our service,” explained Allen. “Rheumatology fellows from Duke accompany me, see their own panel of patients, and we discuss their concerns.”
Since the early 1970s, the NC AHEC Program has supported specialty clinics offered by all four medical schools throughout North Carolina as a means to increase the availability of specialty care and to offer educational experiences for students, residents, practicing physicians, and other local health care providers.
In 2003-2004, AHEC-supported faculty served 15,383 patients in 1,875 sessions at 48 locations across the state. Specialty clinics are given in dermatology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, GI/herpes, infectious diseases, ob/gyn, oncology, orthopedics, pediatric cardiology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric genetics, pediatric hematology/oncology, pediatric neurology, pediatric rheumatology, pulmonary pediatrics, and psychiatry.
“These clinics provide both a valuable service to patients and to physicians and other providers working in these communities,” said NC AHEC Director Tom Bacon, DrPH. Having specialty services available locally allows primary care physicians to offer more comprehensive care in their community. “Because they work as a team with the specialists to manage complex problems, they feel less isolated professionally,” Bacon continued. “As such, the specialty services act as a recruitment and retention tool for bringing more providers to the local community and also improve the quality of care.”