20% of a student's clinical time is devoted to service learning during the rural rotation - about one project a week. The Learning Resource Center has resources for students and pre-fabricated presentations on a wide range of topics. Students may continue work on a reoccurring program or design their own program. If you are a student, contact the Kanawha Valley Health Consortium office and we will make arrangements for activities that meet your interests.

Reoccurring Programs
* WV CARDIAC Project

What the kids are saying about CARDIAC.

An excited elementary student pricks her own finger for a blood test.

The Coronary Artery Risk Detection In Appalachian Communities (CARDIAC) Project was initiated in 1998 as a means of reversing the disparity in cardiovascular disease (CVD). Comprehensive in design, CARDIAC has two components, a school-based surveillance and intervention initiative, and a targeted individualized approach toward identification and referral for treatment those individuals with the most severe genetic cause of death from premature CVD: familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). More Information…
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* Tar Wars® - Targeting fourth- and fifth-grade students, the award-winning, youth tobacco-free education program and poster contest of the American Academy of Family Physicians adopts an effective and innovative approach to teaching tobacco prevention. The program focuses on the short-term, image-based consequences of tobacco use and how to think critically about tobacco advertising. More Information…

* Walk Across the Mountain Day - A 5-6 mile guided hike in April along logging roads in Cabin Creek for about 70 high school students. This activity shows how exercise can be an adventure.

Crossing Cabin Creek - Walk Across the Mountain Day in the April 27th Charleston Gazette

Charleston Gazette's front page story on "Walk Across the Mountain Day"

Other Popular Community Projects

*Oral Health Presentations in the Schools

Elementary students practicing the art of tooth-brushing on Mr. Clean Teeth

* Diabetic Health Fair

RHEP Students MC "Diabetic Jeopardy" at the Diabetic Health Fair.

* Exercise Class for Seniors
* Teen Resource Education Expert training (TREE) - Short presentations to 9th grade health classes at Riverside High School over the course of 12 weeks. Topics included: Nutrition, Fitness, Date Rape, Tobacco Use, Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse, Suicide, Depression, CPR and First Aid, Teen Pregnancy, and Eating Disorders. The TREE program's purpose is for students to become "experts" on major teen issues.
* Judging at school Science Fair
* "Germ Travels" Hand-washing Demonstration
* Bicycle Rodeo
* "Smoke Outside!" - Elementary school second-hand smoke education program with parent pledges to smoke outside the house and a bike raffle.
And Upcoming Projects…
* "A Step in the Right Direction" - Clendenin's Walking Club
" Riverside High School Walking Club
*Community Needs Assessment - researching the needs of underserved Kanawha communities

Have an interest in rural health and an exciting idea for a community service project? Apply for a SEARCH grant for a little extra money on your rotation! More Information…