December 1, 2010 is the deadline for MN Health Professional Loan Forgiveness Programs through the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at the Minnesota Department of Health.

According to the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, the purpose of Minnesota's Loan Forgiveness Program is the recruitment and retention of health care professionals to needed areas and facilities within Minnesota.

Applications are available online. Note that most programs require applicants to apply while still enrolled in a program of study or residency.

Loan forgiveness is an important benefit for health care professionals as well as health care facilities and communities experiencing a shortage of access to primary health care services.

Contact Amy Vallery for information on these programs at amy.vallery@state.mn.us or 651-201-3870.

The Bemidji Area Indian Health Service invited Minnesota AHEC to participate in their Fall 2010 Indian Health Services, Tribal, Urban (I.T.U.) Health Directors Meeting on Wednesday, October 27th.

The meeting was held in Bloomington, MN and was attended by health care administrators from health care facilities that serve tribes in the Bemidji Area Indian Health Service(IHS) region, which covers Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.

In the Bemidji IHS region, there are 24 health centers and 33 health stations operated by tribes. In addition, there are five urban Indian health programs operating under the authority of Title V of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

Other guests included Shriners Hospitals for Children -- Twin Cities and the National Health Service Corps. Both programs share in the mission to improve health care access and support the health care workforce.

Brittany Chopp, K-16 Education Director for Northeast MN AHEC, will be attending the Blandin Community Leadership Program.

The training is a program of the Blandin Foundation, based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. According to their website, "Community leadership training programs offered by the Blandin Foundation help rural leaders develop and enhance the skills, knowledge and relationships they need to build and sustain healthy communities - ones that thrive in times of challenge and opportunity."

MN AHEC was glad to be one of several programs representing health careers opportunities at the 2010 Health Careers Fair presented by the Health Careers Center, a program in the Academic Health Center.

Undergraduate and high school students from around the Twin Cities metro area attended the event and received information on dozens of health career paths and fields.

Interested in attending next year? Save the date for the 2011 Health Careers Fair on Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Contact the Health Careers Center for more information.