Amy McMichael, MD, Chair and Professor of Dermatology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, sat down with us to talk about all things skin - from alopecia to Lupus and beyond.

Amy was recently named the 2022 recipient of the Medical Dermatology Society Lifetime Achievement Award. The annual award is given in recognition of the recipient’s lifetime of inspired patient care as a medical dermatologist, mentoring of future medical dermatologists, and research to advance medical dermatology. The Medical Dermatology Society is dedicated to improving the care of patients whose skin diseases or therapies have substantial systematic consequences, fostering research in medical dermatology, and assuring medical dermatology expertise in community and academic settings.

Listen to this episode of the Healthcare Insights in Northwest North Carolina on our podcast host at https://soundcloud.com/nwahecwebmaster or search for "Healthcare Insights in Northwest North Carolina in your favorite podcast player.

Listen in on a conversation with Audiologist and Health Coach Beth Knott. Beth is a veteran audiologist who became enamored with helping her clients become better versions of themselves. If you are a health care provider or someone who feels called to help others this episode of the Healthcare Insights in Northwest North Carolina podcast will demystify the process of becoming a health and wellness coach and how coaching concepts such as motivational interviewing for lifestyle modification can help you improve your practice.

Social determinants awareness has become a consistent consideration in healthcare as we've become intentional about recognizing the environmental, social, and other factors leading to suboptimal health outcomes. Housing and the demand for safe and affordable housing is a challenge in many communities.

We hear the term health coach more and more these days so I wanted to explore the role of the health coach in this blog post. A health coach is a coach for people who want to or who are contemplating making behavioral changes that result in a healthier lifestyle. A health coach is a type of healthcare extender trained to help others set goals and be accountable for themselves as they begin a journey to improve their overall health and quality of life.

Almost a year into the pandemic we’ve transitioned most of our teaching and learning into completely virtual activities. By now most of us have participated in some live online activity by connecting with others via technology services such as ZOOM or Webex. For the most part, this modality seems to be delivering effective instruction in an accessible and convenient way, and literally meeting learners where they are via broadband Internet.

One of my favorite things to do it sit, listen, and talk with interesting people. For almost two years now I have had the pleasure of sitting down with some beautiful humans and recording these conversations for our Healthcare Insights in Northwest North Carolina podcast https://soundcloud.com/nwahecwebmaster

I was on the Cybex elliptical for some early morning cardio listening to the QuickRead Podcast summarizing the book Unlimited Memory by Kevin Horsley. Here I heard of the PIC method to increase the ability to store long term memory. The PIC method of learning is thinking about your Purpose, Interest, and Curiosity about the topic at hand. No matter the modality of a learning activity, we must ask ourselves what is our purpose for participating, why are we interested, and how can we enhance our curiosity towards the subject matter. Approaching a learning activity this way helps you dial in your concentration and helps you create long term memory to retain new information, clinical pearls, and life lessons.

I recently connected with Jeremy Moseley, the Director of Community Engagement of FaithHealth, to discuss the mission and their ministries. Their mission is to build, align and animate religious and community assets to improve access to health care and the health of the community - a mission that aligns well with Northwest AHEC's. 

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is one of our main service areas at Northwest AHEC. We provide a myriad of learning activities throughout the year for all healthcare disciplines. Many who attend these activities are doing so to earn continuing education credits that keep licensure requirements current. While it is important, earning CE credits doesn't need to be the only motivating factor. So why not create a new path to enhance your career and earning potential by discovering new ways to expand your knowledge as a lifelong learner?

Mapping the customer journey is an important strategic exercise most businesses do at some point. Our customers, or Learners as we in the AHEC say, have a motivation or desire to learn more to stay current, comply with licensure requirements, and be an active lifelong learner. I’d like to share what goes into our workflow when we think of our learners through their journey in continuing professional development with Northwest AHEC.