The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) is the national institution of higher education for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Several College of Micronesia – FSM students participated in research projects, presented research projects and experienced commercial fishing in the Arctic region during the summer of 2009.
According to Instructor Brian Lynch, students Herbert Timothy and Jesse Panuel accompanied him to Hawaii where they presented their summer research projects at the Islands of Opportunity-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Students Participation program, which supports students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Herbert Timothy presented a project titled "Diversity and Distribution of Sicydiine Gobies in the Streams of Pohnpei, FSM" while Jesse Panuel presented his project titled "Distribution, Abundance, and Habitat Preference of an undescribed species of blind snake on Ant Atoll, FSM." Panuel was mentored under Dr. Donald Buden.
In addition Leinson Neth, Jacobson Kibby, and Paulino Balagot all participated in the Undergraduate Research Mentoring (URM) program. All three students spent ten weeks in Hawaii working with UH researchers and graduate students, and completing individual research projects.
Another student John Dale Charley was also selected and attended a two-month long summer program called the “Alaska Experience”. The program takes students to Alaska during summers to experience life in Alaska including commercial fishing. This program was created by sponsored by professors Ray Verg-in and Yenti Verg-in.
According to Instructor Brian Lynch, summer internships, research projects, and experiences including the presentations by Herbert and Jesse's projects in Hawaii provided hands on experience in research and presentation to the students to enhance their science skills.
A symposium on the summer activities is being planned for presentation at the college.
The College of Micronesia – FSM is a party to a program for the Guam/Micronesia Area Health Education Center (AHEC) which was recently funded. The partners under the program include the University of Guam (UOG), the University of Hawaii (UH), the Guam Community College (GCC), the College of Micronesia – FSM (COM-FSM), the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI), and the Pacific Islands Health Officers Association (PIHOA). The UOG has been designated as the office for the program
The Department of Health and Human Services awarded $867K in funding to UOG for the first year of a three-year grant that supports the improvement of individual and community health throughout Micronesia by recruiting and training additional health care professionals.
According to Maria Salomon Director of Nursing at the University of Gaum and Guam/Micronesia AHEC program office director, Area Health Education Centers will be established in Guam, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
The goal of the Guam/Micronesia AHEC is to improve the health of the underserved through collaborative regional training initiatives across the Micronesian region. This area has some of the highest health workforce shortage ratings, and greatest health and education disparities in the US. The Guam/Micronesian Area Health Education Center emphasizes community-based interisland training for healthcare providers and students while enhancing health career education and recruitment from elementary to community college levels. The grant objectives include:
Improve the diversity of the health professions workforce by mentoring and providing health career activities for over 1,200 underrepresented minority students per year.
Improve the distribution of the health care workforce in Micronesia by providing local/on-island interdisciplinary training for more than 150 students a year.
Improve the quality and retention of the health workforce in Micronesia by providing culturally relevant continuing education to more than 780 medical providers.
According to Salomon, the program will begin with recruitment activities throughout the region at the elementary level in order to familiarize young students with health care professions. She also said the program will be created to train students based on the health care needs of each particular area served by the centers. Training and continuing education programs will include curricula for nurses, dental workers, technicians, public health professionals, and physicians, among others.
For its part, the College of Micronesia – FSM has launched its first Public Health Training Program by Fall 2009 semester and is currently developing its own nursing program to be launched when approved. Both programs are expected to receive assistance from the AHEC grant.
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