Professionals
Continuing Education
Continuing Education
Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center is committed to rural primary healthcare workforce development by providing continuing education to current healthcare professionals and assisting with recruiting practitioners and identifying shortages in the Southern Vermont healthcare workforce. Click on the links to the left for more information about how SVTAHEC supports healthcare workforce development.
Continuing Education
Continuing Education is one way that Southern Vermont AHEC is demonstrating our strong commitment to rural healthcare workforce development. Events are targeted to health care professionals such as physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, coders, and other medical care staff.
Recruitment
Southern Vermont AHEC is devoted to the recruitment and retention of our rural primary care workforce. Visit our list of hospitals in Southern Vermont and follow the links to job listings at each hospital. Check out the Primary Care Workforce Snapshot, an annual survey is conducted to identify shortages in the Southern Vermont healthcare workforce.
Loan Repayment
The purpose of this loan repayment program is to respond to the workforce shortage of certain health professionals in Vermont, thereby increasing access to health care for underserved populations and communities. This program aims to contribute to a stabilized workforce at the specific work site (as identified in application materials) and timeframe.
The Vermont Educational Loan Repayment Program for Health Care Professionals is funded by federal and state funds, and is administered by the UVM Larner College of Medicine Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program.
Continuing Education
Offering Continuing Education is one way that Southern Vermont AHEC supports rural healthcare workforce development. Events are targeted to health care professionals such as physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, coders, and other medical care staff.
Recent topics have included:
- Lyme Disease: Perspectives on Diagnosis & Treatment
- CDC’s Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings
- Opioid Prescribing: Safe Use and Patient Care
Upcoming CME/ CEU Events will be listed here and on our Facebook page.
The Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers Program at the UVM Larner College of Medicine offers several continuing education programs for Vermont primary care practitioners:
- Vermont Academic Detailing Program
- University of Vermont Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes)
- Opioid Prescribing Management Toolkits
- Office of Continuing Medical and Interprofessional Education at the LCOM/UVM Medical Center
The Office of Continuing Medical and Interprofessional Education at the LCOM offers accessible online learning opportunities through its vLIFE Online Library, along with a full series of medical courses each year, ranging from half-day seminars for regional physicians to week-long national conferences and international scientific symposia.
Recruitment: A Survey of the Vermont Primary Care Workforce
Averaging all practitioners across the state, the overall supply of PCPs is under adequate levels, using benchmarks established by the Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee Report (GMENAC). A more refined examination of the workforce in each primary care specialty, as well as within regions of the state, shows areas of both adequacy and shortage. Key findings from the 2018 Snapshot include the following:
New Hampshire-Vermont Recruitment Center
The New Hampshire Vermont Recruitment Center, a service of Bi-State Primary Care Association, is the only non-profit recruitment resource in New Hampshire and Vermont for health care professionals. Our mission is to recruit and retain primary care providers in New Hampshire and Vermont with emphasis on the needs of medically underserved areas and populations. We recruit physicians, dentists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and bachelor/master level behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment providers.
The Bi-State Recruitment Center can be found at: https://www.bistaterecruitmentcenter.org/
- During the two-year period of 2016 to 2018, the overall number of primary care practitioners in Vermont grew; however a shortage of internal medicine/adult primary care practitioners continued statewide.
- Since 2016 and prior, the supply of physicians decreased while the supply of APRNs and PA-Cs increased.
- In some counties, a shortage of physicians is counter-balanced to some degree by a supply of APRNs and PA-Cs.
Workforce Opportunities in Southern Vermont
Hospitals in southern Vermont regularly post job openings. Click here for links to all of the hospital web sites in our region: (link to our resource page)
For more information, visit the Vermont Recruitment Center hosted by Bi-State Primary Care Association.
Physician Placement Services
The University of Vermont Medical Center residents and fellows seeking to practice in Vermont, in any specialty, have access to the AHEC Physician Placement Professional, Jennifer Savage. Placement services include: letting residents/fellows know where the physician openings are in their specialty, connecting them to the appropriate contact for the opening, and letting them know about national and state educational loan repayment opportunities for primary care positions.
The University of Vermont Medical Center residents and fellows interested in practicing in Vermont should contact:
Jennifer Savage
Physician Placement Professional
800-442-3531
Loan Repayment
Rebecca T. Dubois, Program Coordinator
802-656-2658
Rebecca.dubois@uvm.edu
The Vermont Educational Loan Repayment Program for Health Care Professionals is funded by federal and state funds, and is administered by the UVM Larner College of Medicine Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program.
The goal of this program is to ensure a stable and adequate supply of healthcare practitioners to meet the healthcare needs of Vermonters.Program eligibility and selection criteria can change annually.
Each year the application process is usually opened in July and closed in September. The application deadline for the 2020 program was September 12, 2019. Links to flyers for the 2020 program are included below for informational purposes.
The Educational Loan Repayment Program is currently focused on the following health professionals:
Loan Repayment
Physicians, Nurse Practitioners & Physician Assistants
The recipient must be a Vermont resident and a primary care nurse practitioner, physician assistant, psychiatric nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, or physician practicing a minimum average of 20 (clinical) hours per week and 45 weeks per year in Vermont.
Nurses (LPNs & RNs)
Applicant must be a Vermont resident and must serve Vermont patients, as defined by the Program. Must work as a nurse for a minimum average of 20 (clinical) hours per week during the year of service and at least 45 weeks per year.
Dentists
The recipient must be a state of Vermont resident working as a dentist for a minimum average of 20 (clinical) hours per week and at least 45 weeks per year in Vermont (non-residents serious about working in Vermont may apply but must move to Vermont prior to disbursement of funds). The practice site or region must be a dental workforce shortage area, as defined by the Program.
Know Your Options
This tool provides information and advice for optimizing how you pay off your student loans based on some basic information about your situation. While we cannot give you advice for your exact situation, we hope it can point you in the right direction and help you learn about some of your options.
Government or Non-profit Employment
If you are employed by a government or not-for-profit organization, you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service
National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
The National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program offers the following health providers the opportunity to have their student loans repaid for serving communities in need:
- Primary care medical
- Dental
- Mental and behavioral health
To learn more visit: www.nhsc.hrsa.gov
Contact SVTAHEC
368 River Street, Suite 145
Springfield, VT 05156
p. 802-885-2126
f. 802-885-2128
e. info@svtahec.org
Open Monday - Friday, 8AM - 4PM.
Media Contacts & Inquiries
Media members may contact Marketing & Communications Manager, Peg Bolgioni during normal business hours.
802.885.2126 x10
pbolgioni@svtahec.org
A 501(c)(3) organization serving Addison, Bennington, Rutland, Windham, and Windsor counties in partnership with The University of Vermont Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine