Our Mission
What AHECs Do
AHECs enhance access to quality healthcare by improving the supply and distribution of healthcare professionals through community-academic partnerships.
Bridging Academics and Communities
Since its inception in 1971, the AHEC program has built a nationwide model to support the health professions workforce. By creating collaborative partnerships between health professions schools and community organizations, AHECs help recruit students into health careers, provide high-quality clinical training in rural and urban underserved clinics, and deliver continuing education to active providers.
Today, AHECs serve over 85% of United States counties, adapting national workforce directives into custom local solutions.
AHEC Focus Areas:
- Health Careers Pipelines
- Clinical Student Training
- Continuing Professional Education
- Community Outreach & Health Links
Health Careers
Exposing pre-college students to healthcare possibilities
- AHECs are committed to expanding the healthcare workforce, especially in rural and medically underserved communities.
- AHECs offer creative, hands-on, and innovative health career curricula tailored for pre-college level students (middle and high school) to inspire the next generation of providers.
Health Profession Students
Providing real-world clinical training and service learning
- Clinical training placements put health professions students in a variety of real-world settings: migrant, urban, and rural community health clinics, and health departments that serve underserved populations.
- Students participate in service-learning programs that build awareness of healthcare delivery barriers and develop a deep understanding of complex community needs.
- AHECs facilitate clinical placements based on extensive linkages with academic medical centers, local healthcare facilities, and regional community partners.
- Connecting students to community populations encourages them to practice in underserved and rural areas after graduating.
- AHEC Scholars: A specialized longitudinal program with interdisciplinary curricula designed to prepare future healthcare leaders for service in underserved settings.
Health Professionals
Continuing education and support for active practitioners
- AHECs provide accredited continuing education programs and professional support to meet the needs of healthcare professionals, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
- Programs enhance clinical skills and introduce evidence-based practices, supporting academic progression and licensing certifications to practice to full scope.
- Recruitment, placement, and retention activities are tailored to the custom healthcare workforce needs of each state and region.
- Support services facilitate information dissemination on critical healthcare issues and support collaborative community-based research.
Communities
Linking academic programs and community outreach
- AHECs are designed to be responsive to local health needs, serving as the essential bridge between academic training and community-based outreach.
- AHECs deliver innovative, collaborative, and interprofessional solutions to current and emerging regional health concerns.
- Through unique local partnerships, AHECs develop health education curricula for online and face-to-face training to meet the public health needs of diverse, rural, and underserved populations.
Explore Our Measured Impact
See how these focus areas translate to national metrics on participants, clinical sites, rotations, and graduates in our highlights portal.