Interprofessional collaboration in healthcare is vital to the nation’s health and interprofessional education is of significant interest in the current academic climate and practice environment. Remote Area Medical is a non-profit healthcare organization that partners with community hosts to provide dental, vision, and medical services to medically underserved patients in remote areas of the United States and abroad. RAM mobile clinics have served over 785,000 people since their founding in 1985, providing vital healthcare services free of charge through the volunteer services of healthcare professionals. RAM mobile clinics provide an excellent opportunity for interprofessional collaboration and interprofessional education as learners partner with volunteer professionals to serve the community. The RAM mobile clinic in Gray, Tennessee was first established in 2017 and implemented the innovate utilization of undergraduate and graduate health professional students from the East Tennessee State University Academic Health Sciences Center in student teams. Interprofessional student teams along with precepting faculty are flexible in location and services offered to best serve the needs of the mobile clinic at any given time. Interprofessional student teams work to improve patient utilization of services offered at the event and assist with medication histories and health screens while growing student interprofessional patient care skills in the process. The objective of this research is to describe the impact of interprofessional student teams on patient care at the Gray, Tennessee RAM mobile clinic during the first two years. Data was collected from the years 2017 and 2018 by the student volunteer coordinator then analyzed by student researchers. The interprofessional student teams consisted of 87 student volunteers that were training in Clinical and Rehabilitative Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, or Pharmacy over the course of the three-day mobile clinic in 2017 and 109 different student volunteers in 2018. Student teams were precepted by interprofessional faculty and logged 2,332 interventions in 2017 and 1,130 interventions in 2018. The top two interventions in 2017 were Medication Histories and Blood Glucose Screens while the top two interventions in 2018 were Medication Histories and Health Screens. Variation in number of interventions logged and type of interventions logged can be explained by event characteristics that differed between the two years. Student participants commented positively on their engagement with one another and discussions they had to better understand each other’s professions between patient encounters. This research attempts to demonstrate that the impact of interprofessional student teams at a RAM mobile clinic is worth the investment of faculty resources in planning and execution to engage student learning while benefitting the patient population being served. This research also provided a hypothesis for additional research to be conducted around the 2019 Gray, Tennessee RAM mobile clinic.

<p>Since teachers’ referrals involve evaluation of students through sustained observation, comprehensive features of giftedness can be identified. In 2007, a project called Having Opportunities Promotes Excellence (HOPE) was launched at Purdue University with funds from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (Gentry et al., 2015). This 3-year project aimed to help identify giftedness among low-income and ethnically diverse students and serve these students in advanced programs. To do so, the project team created the <i>HOPE Scale</i> (Gentry et al., 2015), an instrument used by teachers to assess the academic and socioemotional characteristics of gifted students. Previous results from Project HOPE served as the foundation for the current studies. This dissertation is comprised of three related research papers investigating the <i>HOPE Scale</i> as an equitable measure for identifying underrepresented students for the gifted services. Following are the purpose and research questions for each of these related studies.</p><p></p><h3><a></a><a>Study 1: Validity Evidence for the <i>HOPE Scale</i> to Identify Gifted Students from Low-Income and Multicultural Families in Korea</a> </h3><div><a></a></div><p></p><h3><a></a><a>Study 2: Exploring Individual and Classroom Characteristics on Students’ Outcome Scores from the <i>HOPE</i> Teacher Rating Scale</a></h3><div><a></a><h3><a></a><a></a><a>Study 3: The Relationship between Students’ Academic Achievement and the <i>HOPE</i> Teacher-rating Scale: Exploration to Equitably Identify Underrepresented Gifted Students</a></h3><br></div>

Human papillomavirus is the most frequently occurring sexually transmitted infection and has been recognized as the necessary cause of cervical cancer. Understanding the shift in public awareness caused by recent changes to cervical prevention is critical to addressing cervical cancer disparities in Appalachia. Since the human papillomavirus vaccine was approved for prevention, little data have been collected regarding human papillomavirus risk assessment and vaccine perceptions among Appalachian women. The purpose of the authors in this study was to investigate communication and cultural issues via a social scripting framework that could influence human papillomavirus vaccine uptake among southern Appalachian women; and explore participants' perceptions of human papillomavirus, cervical cancer, and the vaccine. A qualitative, descriptive design was employed to examine these issues in eight counties in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Thirty-nine women aged 18-49 years participated in a single individual interview or focus group session from October 2007 through August 2008. Interview and focus group data were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Two major themes emerged from the data: the human papillomavirus vaccine protection dilemma and spheres of silence surrounding the human papillomavirus vaccine protection dilemma. Study findings suggested areas for future research and may assist healthcare professionals in approaching southern Appalachian women as they make decisions regarding cervical cancer prevention.

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Librarians can be major contributors at multihealth profession community outreach efforts. East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine Library (ETSU QCOML) partnered with the Remote Area Medical Group (RAM) at two health "expeditions" in northeastern Tennessee to provide consumer health information to the people who came to the event for medical, dental, and vision care. A booth staffed by library workers that utilized MedlinePlus.gov was set up at each event. Preselected handouts were used along with online searching. The library booth was able to provide consumer health information to 1,310 people. By participating in this event, it allowed not only the library workers to assist the public with consumer health questions but also exposed other health care professionals to what medical librarians can do to directly help patients.

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Based on previous studies and the author's observations pre-service teachers do not typically consider teaching in underserved areas as their preferred option (Aragon et al., 2014). My goal for this study was to provide PSTs with a different perspective on teaching in urban areas by developing a compendium of evidenced-based practices based on the five major patterns found in effective teaching in underserved elementary schools. A qualitative content analysis of research on teacher effectiveness in underserved, underfunded, and under-resourced elementary schools allowed me to gather data from previous studies to identify evidenced-based best practices for this particular setting. Based on the review of literature, I found the following five major patterns when discussing teacher effectiveness in underserved, underfunded, and under-resourced elementary schools: Student-Teacher Relationships, Safe and Supportive, Learning Environment, Real-world Connections, Collaborative Learning, and Differentiation. Pre-service teachers considering working in an urban environment and veteran teachers can benefit from learning about these five commonalities found in effective instruction when serving underserved populations. A comprehensive website was created to provide educators with a resource that concisely explains evidence-based practices in the urban education setting.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Purpose: This study examines whether Indiana physicians’ choices to practice in medically underserved and rural areas of Indiana are associated with select physician characteristics. Methods: Physician data were gathered from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. Analysis was limited to primary care physicians currently practicing, whose birth city and/or state were known (if American born) and whose current practice location could be matched to an Indiana ZIP Code. The underserved and rural areas and physician data were mapped using ArcGIS. Chi square and logistic regression analyses were performed to identify significant associations between the physician characteristics and choice of practice location. Results: In instances where a physician was born in a county that fell below its state’s median income level in the decade of birth, there is a significant likelihood of future choice to practice in underserved and rural areas. Attending a medical school in the Midwest and region of birth (subdivided by state) were proven to have no predictive value. Conclusions: This result, when compared with other studies that have found physician hometown to be a predictive factor, seems to confirm and strengthen the argument that factors in a physician’s past, including social and economic setting of his or her upbringing, influence choice to practice in underserved and/or rural areas.

Safety net clinics across the country struggle with a lack of resources to tackle the needs presented. Screening programs set up for children and elderly have proven to be effective in triaging need, prioritizing care, and maximizing resources. These programs do not currently exist for working uninsured adults. Research was initiated to answer the question: Does the screening process improve patient care for the community clinic? During a 6-week pilot study a licensed dental hygienist performed 30 screenings in the community clinic setting. Findings were recorded and coded according to patient’s level of need identified. Pre- and posttest data for patient care factors were attained. Statistical tests showed a significant effect on patient care factors. While the evidence existed to support the implementation of screening, more research would quantify the specific impact on this population.

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