In 1976, John Lister, MD, of the United Kingdom, and Christopher Fordham, MD, of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, created the Traveling Fellowship—an exchange program whereby AHEC-based faculty from North Carolina spend a month studying aspects of the British medical education and health services delivery system. In return, NC AHEC hosts fellows selected by Medical Education Leaders UK. In 1996, the American portion of the exchange became known as the Eugene S. Mayer Fellowship, thanks to contributions made in memory of the longtime NC AHEC director.
2019: Daniel Frayne, MD, Mountain AHEC 2018: Pascal Osi Udekwu, MBBS, MBA/MHA, FACS, Wake AHEC 2017: Rongrong Fan, MD, Mountain AHEC 2016: Karl Bertrand Fields, MD, Piedmont AHEC 2015: Joseph A. Pino, MD, MHA, South East AHEC 2014: William Hope, MD, South East AHEC 2013: Richard M. Wardrop, III, MD, PhD, FAAP, FACP, Wake AHEC 2012: Gregg Colvin, MD, Wake AHEC 2011: Marshall Lee Chambliss, MD, Piedmont AHEC 2010: Amina Ahmed, MD, Charlotte AHEC 2009: Michael F. Dulin, MD, PhD, Charlotte AHEC 2008: Christy L. Henry, MD, Wake AHEC 2007: Mary Rogers, MD, Charlotte AHEC 2006: David K. Gittelman, DO, Wake AHEC 2005: Dael M. Waxman, MD, Charlotte AHEC 2004: John Langlois, MD, Mountain AHEC 2003: William Hensel, MD, Piedmont AHEC 2001: John E.R. Perry III, MD, Wake AHEC 2000: Marcus Plescia, MD, Charlotte AHEC 1999: Brent Wright, MD, Coastal AHEC 1998: Howard Loughlin, MD, Southern Regional AHEC 1997: Wayne A. Hale, MD, Piedmont AHEC 1996: Suzanne Landis, MD, Mountain AHEC 1995: Ross Vaughan, MD, Wake AHEC 1993: J. Gary Maxwell, MD, Coastal AHEC 1992: Darlyne Menscer, MD, Charlotte AHEC 1991: Stewart Rogers, MD, Piedmont AHEC 1990: J. Paul Martin, MD, Mountain AHEC 1989: Docia Hickey, MD, Charlotte AHEC 1988: David Ingram, MD, Wake AHEC 1987: Lars Larsen, MD, Fayetteville AHEC 1986: Richard Olson, MD, Mountain AHEC 1985: Timothy Lane, MD, Piedmont AHEC 1984: Robert Schwartz, MD, Charlotte AHEC 1983: James Thullen, MD, Wake AHEC 1982: Richard Walton, MD, Mountain AHEC 1981: Peter Ungaro, MD, Wilmington AHEC 1980: J.C. Parke Jr., MD, Charlotte AHEC 1979: John Burnett, MD, Wake AHEC 1978: Martha Sharpless, MD Piedmont AHEC 1977: Marvin McCall, MD, Charlotte AHEC 1976: Bryant Galusha, MD, Charlotte AHEC
John Payne Fellowship
The John Payne Fellowship honors the memory of John Payne and his nearly 25 years of contributions to the North Carolina AHEC Program. The fellowship enables non-medical faculty to further their professional interests and explore innovative educational efforts. The fellowship memorializes Payne’s leadership of AHEC and his lifelong commitment to community-based education, his love of travel, and his interest in exploring new ideas.
The fellowship is awarded annually to one or more North Carolina AHEC faculty. It provides support, allowing fellows to study an aspect of health professions education relevant to the AHEC program. Projects emphasize lifelong learning, involving experiences and activities that explore new models, new ways of thinking, and innovation. Fellows are expected to share what they learn with AHEC colleagues through discussion, publication, and/or presentation. The length of the fellowships may vary depending on the projects. Funding is intended to help cover the recipients’ travel and living expenses within the United States during the timeframe of their awarded fellowships. The individuals’ AHECs are expected to cover salary and other compensation costs during fellowship.
Eligibility
Full-time AHEC faculty in allied health, dentistry, mental health, nursing, health careers, library services, pharmacy, CME, quality improvement, and public health disciplines and other AHEC faculty who fulfill a significant educational role are eligible for the John Payne Fellowship. Physician faculty may apply to the Mayer Traveling Fellowship for similar educational travel. Applicants must have been employed at an AHEC for three years or longer. Applicants must state in writing, in no more than three (3) pages, how he/she envisions the fellowship to be professionally useful and related to the mission and goals of the North Carolina AHEC Program. The applicant must be willing to write a brief report within two (2) months of the completion of the visit and submit the report to the AHEC program director.
Application Procedure
Interested faculty should submit his/her written statement and curriculum vitae to his/her AHEC director. The AHEC director will review applications and transmit them to the AHEC program director along with a letter of support. Although there are no restrictions on the number of applications that can be forwarded by any AHEC director, it is requested that each AHEC try to limit itself to one nominee. Each AHEC director is asked to submit the names of nominees, together with their statements, curricula vitae, and supporting documents, to the NC AHEC program director by a date to be determined each year.
Selection of the Fellow(s)
Fellows will be chosen from the nominees by a committee appointed by the NC AHEC program director. The committee will evaluate applications based on the following criteria: a professional development opportunity, new or innovative educational activity, leadership development, benefits to the NC AHEC Program, and strength of the letter of support from the AHEC director. Selected fellows are expected to share their experiences via presentations at the subsequent Statewide AHEC Conference.
Arrangements for the Fellowship
Once selected, the fellow will discuss preliminary plans with his/her AHEC director. The stipend for the John Payne Fellowship is $2,500 per fellow and can be used for airfare, lodging, meals, and associated costs.
Previous Winners
2023
Tonia Joyner, MS, LCAS (Eastern AHEC) and Courtney Masters, MSPH (Southern Regional AHEC)
2022
Ally Moser, Assistant Director Continuing, Medical, Dental and Pharmacy Education (Eastern AHEC) and Karen Goble, MA Director, Continuing Medical Education and Tonja Teter, RN, BSN Director, Continuing Nursing Education (Southern Regional AHEC)
2021
Ted Eby – Obtain a Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist Certification
2020
Jennifer Bigger – Attend the Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) Summit on Primary Care Michelle Boyd – Become a trained facilitator for Bridges Out of Poverty and Bridges to Health and Healthcare Lisa Guy – Attend the Association for Nursing Professional Development: Aspire to Envision Conference
2019
Chanyne Cupil – Attend a two-day course on advanced diversity and inclusion strategies at the Industrial Labor Relations School at Cornell University Jessica Dietrich, MEd – obtain online certificates in eLearning
2018
Andrew M. Cundiff – Participate in a high-level conference featuring talented medical educators experienced in immersive technologies Carrie Jackman-Hoyle, MHA – Become an Accreditation Council for Medical Education Surveyor Lauren E. Honeycutt, MBA, CDP – Attend the Learning Solutions 2018 Conference and Expo Frank Castelblanco, DNP, RN – Attend the 2018 Institute for Healthcare Improvement Change Conference – Radical Redesign in Complex Systems Jessica R. Williams, BS – Attend a primary care redesign conference, either the Institute for Healthcare Improvement or one of the advanced medical home conferences
2017
Alice J. Schenall, MPH – Attend the MetaECHO 2017 Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico to learn about ECHO Gabriela Staley, MEd – Improve the training of interpreters in North Carola Barbara Smith, RDH, MS – Visit working Medical Home models for the IDD population to learn more about how they function in practice Tamela Yount, MSHAI, PCMH-CCE – Attend IHI meeting to learn about opiates, care management, and pay for performance Matt Martin, PhD, LMFT – Address the opiate epidemic, develop integrated care approaches and improve personal skills at developing modules
2016
Sandie M. Coleman, MAED – Attend the 2016 CME as a Bridge to Quality accreditation workshop in Chicago, Illinois, to gain a better understanding of the American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification requirements and become better prepared to design educational activities that integrate MOC and accredited Continuing Medical Education Patty L. Collins, RN, BSN, MAEd – Visit the Veterans Administration in Palo Alto, California, to meet with individuals to learn more about the treatment and specific mental and medical healthcare needs of female veterans
2015
La-Lisa Hewett-Robinson, MA, and Robert Wilson, MA – Attend a national training symposium and work with expert consultants on strategic plans for effectively implementing interprofessional education and practice in behavioral health settings in North Carolina Laura B. Leach, MLS – Support continuing education through the presentation of “Innovation and Lean Process Improvement Demystified” at the 2015 NC AHEC Statewide Meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina
2014
Ruby Brown-Herring, BSW, MEd – Become a certified instructor to conduct mental first aid certification trainings to a wide variety of audiences R. Evan Richardson, MSN, CNM – Learn more about practice innovation through human-centered design to enhance knowledge and skills in this area
2013
Kelly Blasky, MPH – Attend the national meeting for Mental Health First Aid in order to gain the skills to offer a training in this area to the Charlotte AHEC region and statewide Toni P. Chatman, MHA – Attend the Health Literacy Institute in Maine to add to her expertise in this area for the benefit of Wake AHEC and the entire NC AHEC system
2012
Susan M. Miller, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, FCCP – Develop an interprofessional education experience for students and residents in a variety of fields at the Family Medicine Center at Southern Regional AHEC Michael Willet, MS – Develop new products and applications that can be used on mobile devices in support of the various missions of AHEC
2011
Karen Koch, MSW, LCSW – Address the shortage of clinical supervisors in the eastern part of the state, and develop new models for training by attending the Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision at Adelphi University in June, followed by the creation of a number of training programs at Eastern AHEC to address this issue Mary Lynn Barrett, LCSW, MPH – Attend training in the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) and interview the founders of TRM; participate in other educational experiences with the goal of becoming an expert in the use of TRM in the Family Medicine Residency Program at Mountain AHEC
2010
Diana K. Bond, PhD (c), RN, BC, and Sandie M. Coleman, MAEd – Study the CME process at two sites in the Houston area that have been particularly successful in developing exemplary CME systems in the new environment for professional development for physicians; apply lessons learned to their work at Wake AHEC, and inform AHEC efforts statewide to a more quality-focused CME that takes better advantage of technology and other new systems of educational delivery Dawn Grant, MPH – Attend the World Conference on Quality and Improvement in St. Louis in May 2010; utilize the knowledge gained from the conference to incorporate quality issues and quality measurements in a broad array of educational activities conducted by Eastern AHEC and by AHEC statewide
2009
Monique Mackey, MLS – Study the issue of physician re-entry into the workforce after a period of being out of active practice; visit the state of Oregon to study the way in which that state has organized a formal process for providing a clinical skills refresher program and for approving physicians for re-entry into active practice Joann Spaleta, MBA, MHA, MT, (ASCP) – Additional advanced level leadership education as part of the American College of Health Care Executives toward her activity in organizing and offering management and leadership training at both the Charlotte AHEC and throughout the state
2008
Isis Hanna, BA – Attend the IDI Certificate Course in Portland, Oregon to gain additional tools to use in building successful cultural diversity programs at Charlotte AHEC and for the entire NC AHEC system Peter Koval, PharmD – Study robotic avatars and voice recognition software applications at Keele University in the United Kingdom and apply this new knowledge toward a greater use of technology into the pharmacy curriculum at Greensboro AHEC and across the state
2007
Elaine B. Owens, MPA – Visit the Connecticut AHEC Youth Health Service Corps program to learn more about the structure, specific training modules, and recognition offered to students; a similar program might then be applied to NC using this model Tara D. Owens and Sherry Stafford, MEd – Attend the e-Learn 2007 conference in Quebec City, Canada, to learn about the research, development, diverse learning experiences, implementation, and technology needed to improve e-learning at AHEC
2006
Mollie Scott, PharmD, BCPS, CPP – Develop a pharmacotherapy curriculum for geriatric fellows by drawing upon the experience of specialists across the country Amy Vega, MBA, MHA, RHEd – Research multiple connections between public health and animal care in North Carolina
2005
Libby Haile, MEd, MY, SH, CLS – Investigate Culture Clues™, an online informational resource on ethnic and racial groups served by the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, for the purpose of exploring potential for developing similar resources on major ethnic populations in North Carolina Lyn Keating, MS – Develop the capability to teach bioethics curricula in continuing education courses offered by South East AHEC and elsewhere in North Carolina
2004
Sheryl Pacelli, MEd – Look at models for preparing for the psychological aspects of bioterrorism and other disasters Deborah Ramey, MAEd – Explore tracking and evaluation models for health careers workforce programs.
2003
Karen Blicher, LCSW, CHT – Integrate mindfulness-based stress reduction into the programs and services of Mountain AHEC, including the Division of Family Medicine, OB-GYN and Regional Services Karen Zeliff, MLS – Develop an instructional packet, protocols, and templates for CE staff to equip them with the concepts and tools needed to work with traditional classroom-based partners to help provide quality online continuing education
2002
Jean Hill, EdD – Review the recruitment and retention strategies implemented by four magnet hospitals and share strategies that could be replicated in facilities seeking to enhance the nurse work environment Fern Paul-Aviles, Ms, RPH – Visit and meet with pharmacy faculty members at sites in Oklahoma and Virginia to observe how the universities support the development of progressive community pharmacy practices
2001
Patricia Hayes, MSN, RN, CNAA – Explore techniques in health behavioral management in Oregon that have proven to be effective and that could be taught to health providers in North Carolina Michael Kennedy, MGA, CHES – Visit the Andrus Center at the University of Southern California and increase NC AHEC’s ability to create appropriate training programs in the field of geriatrics using effective teaching methods
2000
Nancy Harrison, MSN, RN – Meet with nurses in Colorado and work collaboratively with the Colorado AHEC to look at innovative models of nursing practice Anita Pulley, MSN, RN – Study how the Massachusetts AHEC Program functions as an integral partner in the healthy communities movement within their state and apply the strategies to the NC AHEC Program
1999
Russet Hambrick, MLS – Participate in a two-week fellowship at Texas A&M University resulting in certification in distance education programming, and use the ideas gained to build stronger rural networks through telecommunication Diane Leonard, RN, EdD – Visit a model site involved in the healthy communities movement to determine the collaboration strategies they use to assess the educational infrastructure and to determine how NC AHECs may be more involved in such efforts
Glenn Wilson Award for Public Service
Glenn Wilson, founding director of NC AHEC
The Glenn Wilson Award for Public Service honors the founding director of the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Program. Glenn Wilson served as the director of the North Carolina AHEC Program from 1972 to 1977. Wilson assembled the team of faculty to write the initial federal AHEC grant and was successful in receiving one of the initial 11 AHEC awards in 1971. At that time, the AHEC grant was the largest federal grant ever received by UNC-Chapel Hill. Wilson worked in close collaboration with hospital and other community health leaders at the initial AHEC sites to develop university-community partnerships that remain fundamental to the success of the AHEC Program in North Carolina. In 1974, he successfully led the effort to obtain permanent funding for AHEC, which supported expansion to a statewide program with nine centers and built AHEC facilities across the state. After leading the AHEC program through its formative stage in the 1970s, Glenn Wilson stepped down as AHEC program director to become the founding chair of the Department of Social and Administrative Medicine, now the Department of Social Medicine, in the UNC School of Medicine.
Initiated in 2006, The Glenn Wilson Award for Public Service pays tribute to Wilson’s numerous contributions in founding the North Carolina AHEC Program, his leadership in establishing a structure of partnerships between communities and academic health centers as the basis for the organization of the AHEC program, and his lifelong commitment to social justice and improved access to quality health care for the state’s most vulnerable communities. The Glenn Wilson Award for Public Service is given every other year to an individual who has made significant contributions to improving access to health care for the people of North Carolina.
The following criteria are used in selecting the awardee:
demonstrated leadership in improving access to health care for the people in North Carolina;
involvement in teaching health sciences students, either directly or through the work of the individuals’ organization;
successful partnerships with other providers to improve health care for communities; and
a champion in improving health outcomes for all North Carolinians, particularly those who are most vulnerable.
AWARD RECIPIENTS
2022: Samuel Cykert, MD for his leadership at the Regional AHEC, Program Office and other state- and local-levels to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities, and Jeffery Heck, MD, for his leadership at Mountain AHEC including his expansion of MAHEC’s graduate medical education programs and establishment of UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC.
2017: Lawrence M. Cutchin, MD, of Greenville, North Carolina, for his leadership as the first director of Area L AHEC and one of the original AHEC directors in the nation, for his service as chair of the Area L AHEC board and as a preceptor for the Brody School of Medicine, and his work with the Community Care Program of Eastern Carolina;
2015: David M. Webb, EdD, of Wilson, North Carolina, for his leadership of Area L AHEC and his work to improve health care in North Carolina;
2012: Eugene Maynard, MD, of Benson, North Carolina, for his work at the Benson Area Medical Center, with a particular focus on his work with migrant and seasonal farmer workers in Johnston County and the surrounding areas;
2011: George T. Wolff, MD, of Greensboro, North Carolina, for educating family physicians to meet the primary care needs of North Carolina communities as director of the Moses Cone Family Practice Residency program;
2009: Howard Loughlin, MD, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, for his service to the children of the Southern Regional AHEC region, statewide leadership in child advocacy and primary care education, and his service to the North Carolina AHEC program;
2007: Olson Huff, MD, of Asheville, North Carolina, for his state and local advocacy for children, his service as a Mountain AHEC Board Member, and his work as a developmental pediatrician, clinician, and teacher;
2006: Jane H. McCaleb, MD, of Jackson, North Carolina, for her career as medical director of Roanoke Amaranth Community Health Group, associate professor of family medicine at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, preceptor for UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University, and medical student clerkship director for Area L AHEC.
The John Payne Fellowship honors the memory of John Payne and his nearly 25 years of contributions to the North Carolina AHEC Program. The fellowship enables non-medical faculty to further their professional interests and explore innovative educational efforts. The fellowship memorializes Payne’s leadership of AHEC and his lifelong commitment to community-based education, his love of travel, and his interest in exploring new ideas.