AACOM's New Initiative Will Mobilize the Future Health Care Workforce?

Students Assist America, a new initiative spearheaded by AACOM, will enable medical students and students from across the health professions to assist our nation’s health care workforce now and after the COVID-19 crisis.

With collaboration from  the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), and others, Students Assist America is mobilizing students to participate in safe, clinically appropriate ways to help the nation’s health care system continue to function while offering meaningful educational experiences.

"AACOM started this initiative because we recognized that there are thousands of students across our health professions that have translatable skills and can help fulfill the many needs our health care system is currently facing," said Dr. Robert A. Cain, President & CEO of AACOM. "This interprofessional approach to having students contribute is how we should be operating in our best health care models, and our hope is that when we face the next wave of this virus, or just deal with our daily primary care needs, we don’t go back to business as usual.”

In virtual classes and online settings, students will receive immediate training in key areas such as general knowledge of COVID-19, appropriate use of personal protective equipment, quarantine, social distancing, and public health topics such as clinician wellness, epidemic preparedness, messaging and containment. A sample approach enabled by the Students Assist America effort recently launched in Ohio, and it is expected that the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM)'s entire third year class of 250 students will be deployed to local health agencies to provide assistance.

To learn more about the Students Assist America initiative, AACOM has produced a webinar featuring key leaders from the COMs community, and established a SharePoint site with regularly updated interprofessional resources including sample syllabi and potential student roles. For further information, please contact Virginia Bader at vbader@aacom.org.