DAVID CHENOT AWARDED $3,177,237 FROM HRSA TO HELP DIVERSIFY HEALTH PROFESSIONS

David Chenot, chair and associate professor of social work, was awarded $3,177,237 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for “Allied Health Academy Health Careers Opportunity Program (AHA HCOP).” The five-year project, co-directed with Laurie Roades, dean of the College of Health and Human Development, aims to diversify the allied and other health professions for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in north Orange County through collaborations with CSUF partners: Cypress College; Anaheim Unified High School District; Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance, a community-based mental health and social service organization; and multiple accredited allied health profession degree programs at CSUF, Western University of Health Sciences, CSU Los Angeles, CSU Long Beach, and University of California, Irvine.

The AHA HCOP seeks to increase the pipeline of disadvantaged students, namely Latinos, Pacific Islanders and Southeast Asians into the professions of communicative disorders, public health (including environmental health specialists, epidemiologists, health educators, and gerontologists), physical therapy and social work. The multifaceted effort is designed to increase retention and graduation of these diverse underserved students across the educational continuum, from high school through graduate allied health profession programs. AHA HCOP’s long term goal is to increase the pipeline of well-prepared disadvantaged individuals into allied health professions to meet the health care workforce needs of the local communities through three structured programs: National Ambassador program, Summer Research Experience, and Pre-Matriculation Program. Over five years, the project will work with 450 disadvantaged students (including 280 receiving funds): cohort of 75 high school students through graduation and matriculation into community college and CSUF; cohort of 60 community college students through allied health degree completion and matriculation to CSUF; cohort of 95 CSUF undergraduates to graduate schools, and cohort of 45 through completion of graduate degrees from accredited allied health programs; 125 summer research students; and 50 pre-matriculation students. The current three-year AHA HCOP has successfully educated 350 disadvantaged students, and the new effort will expand to graduate degree completion, address clinical priorities of opioid abuse and mental/behavioral health and serve as a model CSU allied health pipeline.

See also: CSUF NEWS SERVICE - Program Helps Students See the Opportunities in Allied Health Care