Student Health Coaches Making a Difference

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Through a joint project with Shannon Medical Center called the Shannon Care Coordination Program, Angelo State pre-med students are completing internships by acting as health coaches for some of Shannon’s chronic patients in their homes.

The program began during the 2014 spring semester with the first group of 22 ASU pre-med students enrolling in the “Community Healthcare from Theory to Practice” seminar course, which students must complete before becoming health coaches. The program is overseen at ASU by Dr. Russell Wilke, chair of the Biology Department and head of the Pre-Health Professions program. 

Dr. Russell Wilke “Shannon approached us about the program last fall,” Wilke said. “I started digging into the details and realized what a huge opportunity it would be for us to be a part of it. So we worked out all the details and started the classroom component last spring. We piloted a couple of student health coaches in the summer and got going full blast this fall with the first full contingent of health coaches.” 

“We are also teaching the seminar course this fall,” he added, “so in the spring, we will have another group of students ready for the health coach internships while concurrently teaching the next group in the classroom component.” 

While Wilke is the instructor of record for the course, it is actually taught by Sandra Morales, Shannon nurse coordinator, and Dr. Irv Zeitler, Shannon vice president of medical affairs. They are joined each week in class by other Shannon medical professionals. 

“We are the only school in Texas with a program like this.”

Dr. Russell Wilke

“We’ve brought in the chief financial officer, the CEO, the head social worker, numerous physicians and medical interpreters,” Wilke said. “So our students learn about every aspect of health care. They also get specific training in disease processes, like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart and lung diseases, as well as ethics, sensitivity and communication training.” 

“For the internship part the following semester, students get assigned a patient,” he continued. “They meet with those patients weekly and then report back to the doctors and nurses who coordinate their care.” 

This fall, there are 18 students in the seminar course and 14 others who have completed the course and become health coaches. Sophomore Meghan Rogers of San Angelo is one of the coaches. 

Meghan Rogers “One of the main things we work on is keeping the patients out of the hospital,” Rogers said. “My patient had been to the hospital 25 times this year alone. So we work on making sure they are healthy by checking daily activity levels, eating habits and things like that. We also check on anything that changes in their medication regimen and relay that information to Shannon to make sure it is accurate.” 

“We make sure they get to their doctor appointments,” she added, “and we make sure that the hospital and clinic are all connected with what is going on with each patient. It’s wonderful to interact with my patient and to see her progress.” 

Another ASU health coach, junior Jarett Lujan of Marfa, also sees other benefits beyond the hands-on training the internships provide. 

“I’ve learned communication skills that I know I would not have, if not for this program,” Lujan said. “It also gives you some insight on the medical career you are preparing for, whether it is really for you. It has really opened my eyes to what I want to do with my career.” 

Jarett Lujan “It has also given me insight into the viewpoint of the patient,” he added. “There are patients who have low literacy levels and some who don’t really know what is going on, who get sent home with medicine and all they know is they have to take it. So now I understand more of the patient’s perspective, too.” 

With future plans to be a family practitioner and an ER physician, respectively, Rogers and Lujan are happy to be members of this ASU-Shannon partnership that is truly a win-win prospect for all involved. 

“It really benefits our students to have this program,” Wilke said. “It benefits Shannon and it benefits the community members who get paired with our student health coaches. It’s one of the few things in the Biology Department that we can do to really benefit multiple entities like that.” 

“When our students apply to medical school” he added, “they will be able to list this program in the Medical Experiences part of their application. That is huge because they will have all of these hours of training and contacts in various aspects of health care. It will be very beneficial in that regard. We are the only school in Texas with a program like this.”