The CARDIAC Project utilizes the robust West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnership (WVRHEP), a statewide coalition of rural communities and higher education, with its 13 site coordinators, 640 preceptors, and hundreds of health science students as the platform upon which to identify children and their families at risk of CVD. As part of their required three months of rural-based clinical training, 119 WV health sciences students per month spend 20% of their time in community service. Participation in CARDIAC provides these health professions students the opportunity to learn health promotion at the community level as part of their community service requirement.

WVRHEP students are trained by CARDIAC staff and local school nurses to conduct blood pressure, anthropometrical, and blood lipid testing. WVRHEP and the WV area Health Educating Centers Program (www.wvahec.org) have forged a partnership in the education of health professions students in rural under served communities throughout the state. these interventional programs have addressed numerous public health issues within our state, reaching many rural West Virginians.

WVRHEP is indeed a partnership. Rural community partners include lay leaders, clergy, rural practitioners, facility administrators, extension agents, and school personnel. Partners at the university/higher education level include state and private colleges as well as the seven health profession schools. State government partners include the state legislature, the Bureau of Public Health, and the governor's office.

Formalization of the partnerships is facilitated through the use of an affiliation agreement between each consortium's designated lead agency (often a hospital or health clinic) and the Higher Education Policy Commission of West Virginia. Regional site coordinators and support staff are responsible for coordination of health science educational activities according to policies established by the local community board of directors.

The results of a recent study funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and released in early 2001 by the Center for the Advancement of Collaborative Strategies in Health at the New York Academy of Medicine show that when compared to the 62 other partnerships in the national sample, the WVRHEP was particularly strong in the areas of efficient utilization of partner resources and incorporating the perspective and priorities of the community.