I am thrilled to share the official "Choose Virginia" newsletter from the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Health Equity. Despite the unprecedented challenges we have faced as a result of the pandemic, we have found innovative ways to provide compassionate and equitable technical assistance and customer service to our stakeholders.

In our upcoming issues, we will showcase our activities, successes, stories, workforce and staffing updates, important events, and upcoming programs. Our workforce programs have grown significantly since 2014, thanks to the unwavering support of our exhaustive list of stakeholders and the Commonwealth of Virginia, who have helped us improve access to care in Virginia. Our objective is to place diverse and qualified primary care providers in underserved communities in Virginia, retain them where they are needed the most, and ultimately make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation.

I am proud to report that our efforts have yielded positive outcomes. For instance, we have implemented various programs that significantly reduce health disparities among underserved populations. We have also collaborated with multiple organizations to provide vital services, such as mental health, dental, and primary care, to those in need.

I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to everyone who contributed to this newsletter, especially Nikita Busic, Newsletter Committee Lead, Stacy Davis, and Riah Proctor, who served on the newsletter committee. Without their unwavering efforts, this newsletter would not have been possible.

Thank you for your continued support and interest in our work.

Best regards,

Olivette Burroughs, MBA, HCM, PHIC

Statewide Health Workforce Manager

I had a tumultuous start in life. My mother and her boyfriend murdered my father, mutilated him and buried him in the back yard. Consequently, I was raised in wonderful Christian foster care home. I did not start my adult life with the thought of college in mind, my thoughts were on surviving by finding the best paying job that would hire a high school graduate; resulting in a manufacturing position which I was grateful for. When I was in my early thirties I was able to contemplate futuristic thoughts as it took that long to truly get over my childhood trauma. I realized a college degree was necessary to break the cycle of no education and poverty. I did weigh the thought of student debt against the continuation of setting the example of just surviving; I chose student loan debt, never realizing how hard it would be to live and pay back those loans. If I had the benefit of hindsight when making the decision to go or not to go to college I would have made the same choice. Student loans has allowed me to break the cycle of poverty, my 20 year old adopted child is in college and going to become a teacher, my other 15 year adopted child is diligently working toward becoming a dentist and they will start their lives without student debt; the cycle of no advanced education has been broken in my family. The Virginia State Loan Repayment Program (VASLRP) has allowed me to not work two jobs in order to make loan payments and I can’t explain the gratitude I feel. I have been able to attend volleyball games, cook dinner, go to church and even advance my education. In April 2023 I obtained my psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner certification which will allow me to take care of my patients physical as well as mental health needs. Words cannot express the deepest appreciation and gratitude for being honored with the VASLRP award, it has had far reaching benefits for myself , my family and my quality of life as well as my ability to be a good mother. I could not express in words what the VASLRP has done for me but I will demonstrate loyalty to the heart of this program as long as I am working; my employment will always be centered around those that are most in need as I was once a person most in need. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. My family thanks you.

Sincerely,

 Dianna Scott, MSN, MSL, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC

On May 20th the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians (VAFP) hosted Choose Virginia 2023 at the Delta Hotels by Marriot Richmond Downtown. This event was first held back in 2009 in partnership with the Virginia Workforce Development Authority and the Virginia Department of Health. In the fall of 2022, VAFP was contacted by some of the Commonwealth’s Family Medicine Residency Program Directors to again sponsor and host a Choose Virginia event. Over 45 medical students and over 25 faculty and family medicine residents from nine programs across the Commonwealth were in attendance. The format for the event included a Welcome session where VAFP President Dave Gregory, MD along with VAFP Resident, Student and Faculty Committee Co-Chairs Denee Moore, MD and Dan McCarter, MD welcomed the group and discussed with the audience their personal family medicine journey. The welcome was followed by a residency fair that provided an opportunity for the medical students to learn more about what the family medicine programs in Virginia have to offer them as family medicine residents.

The programs in attendance included: 

• Dr. S. Hughes Melton Family Medicine Residency Program
• Lewis Gale Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program
• Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency Program
• Mary Washington Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program
• Shenandoah Valley Family Practice Residency Program
• St. Francis Family Medicine Residency Program and Blackstone Rural Track Family Medicine Residency Program
• University of Virginia Family Medicine Residency Program
• VCU Health - Community Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program
• Virginia Tech Carilion Family Medicine Residency Program

Mid-morning and following lunch, students had the opportunity to participate in procedural sessions facilitated by the residency program faculty and residents. The following hands-on procedural workshops were offered.

• Ultrasound Peripheral Vascular Access
• Shoulder and Knee Injections
• Dermoscopy and Skin Biopsy Techniques
• Casting
• Shave/Punch/Excisional Biopsies
• Point of Care Ultrasound
• OMT for Pregnancy
• IUD Placement and Endometrial Biopsies
• Diabetes Nuts and Bolts of Insulin Delivery

In addition to the tremendous support of the residency programs in attendance, a big thank you also goes out to the following supporters of the event.

• VAFP Members who donated to the VAFP Foundation in support of Choose Virginia
• A grant from the Family Medicine Chapter Alliance (FMCA), a collaborative program of the AAFP Foundation
• Capital Area Health Education Center (Capital AHEC) - Financial Incentive Programs & AHEC Scholars
• ChenMed

The VAFP looks forward to future Choose VA events and the continued support of our future family physicians!