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ExploreHealthCareers.org/ahec
AHEC of a Way to Start Your Health Career
Area Health Education Centers provide high school students with training, resources and support
Pursuing your ideal health career doesn’t have to be a stressful process. In fact, there are people in your local Area Health Education Center (AHEC) who can help you get the experience, guidance, and training you need to become a successful health professional.
“AHECs can help [students] through the entire process” of launching a health career, “from the very beginning until they actually get the job,”
Nancy Brede, Northwest Program Manager, Northern Wisconsin Area Health Education Center
Area Health Education Centers have already introduced more than 255,000 students to health-careers through both school programs and summer institutes and you can benefit as well. With over 200 centers and 17,000 community-based sites across the country, an AHEC’s health-care services, health-career information, educational preparation programs, and career training are readily accessible.
What the heck is an AHEC?
The U.S. government developed AHECs in 1971 to “recruit, train and retain a health professions workforce committed to underserved populations.” (www.NationalAHEC.org)
Nancy Brede, Northwest Program Manager of the Northern Wisconsin Area Health Education Center, says the AHEC she oversees was “originally developed to connect rural communities with providers and to connect students of rural communities with health-care.” Brede is currently in the process of establishing a Northwest Wisconsin AHEC “because there is such a need to connect these students.”
AHECs also work for the underserved and disadvantaged in urban communities. In addition to the 200 AHEC centers around the country, AHECs have established thousands of community-based training sites in rural and urban underserved areas—almost half of which are in designated Health Professions Shortage Areas (HPSAs).
Eighty-seven percent of the students who participate with AHECs are from underrepresented minority groups or economically disadvantaged communities and range in age from junior high to professionals.
How can your local AHEC help you?
Whether you have specific career questions in mind, are looking for training programs, or want to learn more about health-care in general, AHEC professionals are willing and able to provide you with the information that you need.
“AHECs can help [students] through the entire process” of launching a health career, “from the very beginning until they actually get the job,” says Nancy Brede, Northwest Program Manager, Northern Wisconsin Area Health Education Center. “We want to be with them the whole way; we want to be a mentor.”
One of the most valuable resources an AHEC can offer you is experience. So far, 102,000 students have received more than 20 hours each of health-career exposure and academic enhancement to better prepare them for their specific health-career training program. Another 44,000 students have received professional training at AHEC community-based sites.
The National AHEC Organization (NAO) currently supervises 54 programs in centers across the country, but AHECs offer several other programs and services on a regional basis that can help you at all stages of your health-career.
Learning through doing in your community
“Students who participate are students who have any inclination of interest in health-careers,” Brede said. AHEC’s commitment to diversifying the health-care profession means that economic standing is not a barrier to participation; “any student that is interested is participating.”
AHECs rely heavily on academic medicine resources to better educate and serve disadvantaged communities. Today, centers collaborate nationally with 120 medical schools and over 600 nursing and allied health schools to design programs for children, professional students, and even professionals.
Brede explains that AHEC’s mission is “to connect [students and communities] with people they wouldn’t have access to just because of our vast connections.” This strong academic network is the backbone of the following NAO service initiatives.
Health-careers Recruitment and Preparation reflects AHEC’s interests in expanding the diversity and distribution of the health-care workforce. Through this initiative, AHEC established the Medical Academy of Science and Health (MASH) Camp. This hands-on camp has a science and health curriculum with programs for elementary, middle, and high school students. Students take science courses to strengthen their preparedness for health training programs and receive career-planning and education guidance.
The Connecticut Area Health Education Center’s Youth Health Service Corps trains high school students to be health-services volunteers. The program consists of a nine-module hands-on curriculum that instructs students in topics such as “Vulnerable Populations,” “Health & Career Exploration,” and “Peer Education & Leadership.” While student participants work in community health centers, homeless shelters, and nursing homes, they simultaneously learn about health-care and public health-careers. These are just two examples of AHEC’s outreach programs designed to educate and encourage primary and secondary school students.
Training Health Professions Students is an initiative that gives medical, dental, physician assistant, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health students clinical rotation experience in both rural and urban underserved communities. According to NationalAHEC.org, AHEC is “uniquely qualified to facilitate these placements” because of its commitment to overcoming cultural and economic barriers to care. Working within the AHEC community gives students “a better understanding of the complex needs of underserved communities” and encourages young professionals to practice in similar settings.
Supporting Health Professionals demonstrates AHECs commitment to health education of all levels. This initiative provides health professionals that work in underserved areas with high quality continuing education opportunities such as clinical skills development and professional certification.
In response to this initiative, the Florida AHEC Network has developed a health literacy curriculum for health-care professionals. The program marks this AHEC’s commitment to overcome the low-literacy barrier to health-care and in doing so, improve community health. Professionals learn how to improve their verbal and written skills when communicating with patients with low health literacy.
Area Health Education Centers can provide you with the preparation and training necessary for advancement and success in the health-care field. With locations all over the country and free and affordable services, there is no reason why you can’t kick-start your health-career today.