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NPCW: What do I do next? How can I get started?
Below are questions that many coordinators ask when they first
become involved with NPCW. We have provided short responses to
these questions below. To find out everything about how to plan
your event consult The
NPCW Strategic Planning Guide.
What can my school do for National Primary Care Week?
In observance of primary care in the past, schools have organized:
- Brown bag lunchtime series on a variety of topics, led by
faculty
- Community health programs: smoking cessation, cholesterol,
blood pressure, glucose, and cavity screenings, free sports physicals
- Health education programs for high school, middle- or elementary-school
students
- Primary care residency fair
- Hands on workshops on suturing, casting, etc.
- Primary care panel discussion with a variety of different health professionals including but not limited to nurses, physician assistants, social workers, etc.
- Information fair for first and second year students on careers in primary care
- Primary care practitioner shadowing program
- Workshops: research in primary care, managed care in primary care, community medicine, cross-cultural medicine, international health, primary care health policy
These are just a few of the possibilities. Any events that address the importance of and need for primary care, and particularly its impact on underserved communities, are encouraged.
All schools will participate during the same time frame -- though depending on resources and volunteer recruitment, some schools will schedule an event every day, while some will designate one or two days during that week for their activities.
What type of work is involved?
In general, each school will be responsible for:
- Deciding which events are appropriate to your school and
community
- Securing speakers and topics for discussions
- Organizing any formal NPCW events (banquets and others)
- Public relations
- Securing support from your school deans
- Fundraising (Local Project Grants are available through AMSA)
AMSA needs at least one student leader from each medical school. Call or e-mail AMSA and we'll help you get organized - see the contact information below. We'll let you know how we can support you over the next few months and what to expect, and we'll work with you to recruit volunteers from your area to assist you with NPCW.
AMSA will provide support in several ways, including but not limited to the following:
- Provide names and numbers of AHECs and primary care-focused groups in your area
- Provide 'how to' information that includes advice and planning suggestions for NPCW
- Provide a PR kit with information on how to promote your events with local and state media
- Provide specific guidance materials for local activities
- AMSA grants which student leaders can apply for to support NPCW projects.
Who can I collaborate with to plan NPCW events?
NPCW aims to be interdisciplinary and far-reaching. The Area Health Education Centers work with diverse health professions groups and will be a top resource for you and your schools as you begin thinking about NPCW. The AHECs can help you locate speakers, collaborate with physicians, nurses, dentists, podiatrists, nurse-midwives, physician assistants and other health professionals, and assist in securing venues for NPCW events.
The National Health Service Corps Ambassadors work to inspire, mentor, and prepare the next generation of primary care clinicians to serve in areas of greatest need throughout the country. A NHSC Ambassador is a great resource to consult when planning your NPCW events. They contain a plethora of valuable information and are very willing to hold informational meeting on how the NHSC can help your career goals and your NPCW projects.
The Veteran's Administration is another primary care resource. Find a facility (hospital or center) near you. Tip: ask for the Chief of Staff's office, and then for the Service Chief in charge of Primary Care.
Where can I obtain money to fund NPCW at my school?
NPCW events last year differed widely among schools. Some raised large amounts of money to hold a formal dinner for all students interested in primary care, while others needed only enough money to provide pizza at lunch time meetings. Regardless of what you are planning, here are some ideas to get you started. The NPCW Strategic Planning Guide has even more ideas.
- Contact your deans offices, community health departments, departments of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. They may be willing to sponsor a lunchtime presentation or even something more elaborate. If someone from the department is speaking, they may be even more inclined to sponsor the event.
- School administration (dean's office, student affairs, etc.)
- University or college administration
- School alumni groups
- School student government (esp. primary care and community health departments)
- Student groups
- Academic departments
- Professional academies (local chapters of American Academy of Family Practice, American Academy of Pediatrics, Society of General Internal Medicine, local chapters of The American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, etc.)
- Local hospitals
- Large group practices
- Local, county and state departments of health
- Residency programs
- State primary care association or office
- Area Health Education Centers
- National Health Service Corps Ambassadors
- Online granting organizations
- AMSA's Local Project Grant Program
A total of $20,000 per year in funding is available for AMSA medical chapter projects and $3,000 for AMSA premedical chapter projects. Awards will range from $25 - $400 for medical chapter projects and up to $200 for premedical chapter projects (AMSA chapter members only).
- Apply for "WIDENING THE PIPELINE" Funding (medical & dental students are eligible)
In order to help develop a committed cadre of medical and dental students trained to educate and mentor middle and high school students on health careers options, AMSA has developed a supplemental section for existing materials related to promoting health careers to children. This supplemental section is directed at dental and medical students and is designed to teach them how to approach schools with the idea and how to conduct a presentation to middle and high school students.
AMSA has funding available to those who decide to utilize the Widening the Pipeline materials! Individual medical or dental students as well as student groups are eligible to apply. Applicants may apply for up to $200 in funding and applications for funding will be considered on a rolling basis. Download an application for funding.
More Fundraising Tips
- Before asking for financial assistance clarify--why you need the money, exactly what it will be used for, how it supports your NPCW goals.
- Draw up a simple budget.
- Compose a letter which includes --identification of who you are, a description of NPCW and its goals, a description of planned activities, a simple budget, a direct request for financial support, a contact person's name, phone number, and address.
- Identify local businesses, foundations, and civic organizations, vendors in the university hospital, the dean's office, one of the school's departments (such as community and public health, family medicine), the local Area Health Education Center, the state office of primary care or rural health, the local or state medical society or specialty organization, etc. Find out the name of the person in those offices who might be most appropriate to receive your grant request. Find out if any of your colleagues or faculty at your school knows someone there who might be able to provide you with an insider track. Use all possible contacts. (See exhaustive list below.)
- Use your connections and make it interdisciplinary! Have the president of the Pediatrics Interest Group visit the chair of the Department of Pediatrics. Also, consider visiting the deans of primary care and nursing. In addition, deans from other schools such as social work might also be interested in participating in NPCW.
- Remember your sponsors. Sponsors should be acknowledged in publicity materials, program materials, and at NPCW events. Contributors should be invited to attend NPCW events. In order to foster continued relationships, please remember to thank all benefactors after NPCW. Include copies of materials in which their name appears and a description of how their contribution was successfully utilized.
- Follow up every request with a personal visit and/or phone call.
- Combine NPCW with another project. In past years, several schools hosted residency fairs as a part of National Primary Care Day. The planning committees invited residency programs and local hospitals to set up booths to publicize their programs and provide more information to interested students. Programs were charged $100-300 for the opportunity to advertise to health professions students. Residency fairs are an excellent opportunity to inform your fellow students about opportunities in primary care and to raise funds (Residency Fairs: A How-To Guide).
- If you don't ask, you won't get it--so ask everyone for assistance.
See the NPCW Strategic Planning Guide for more fundraising tips, including sample letters to possible funders. Plus, more fundraising suggestions.
Please also see an excellent student guide to planning projects.
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