NYS AHEC SYSTEM
Dept. of Family Medicine
University at Buffalo
462 Grider Street
Buffalo, NY 14215
(716) 898-4699
ahec-info@buffalo.edu

The New York State AHEC System..

New York State suffers from both a drastic shortage and a serious lack of diversity in its health care workforce. The New York State Area Health Education Center (AHEC) System is a workforce development initiative established in 1998 to find solutions to these problems. Long long-range goals are to cultivate a workforce that more closely matches the state’s population in diversity, to assure that each community has enough practitioners in the right categories, particularly primary care, and ultimately to improve access to quality health care for everyone. Through nine AHECs based in communities across the state (Buffalo, Bronx, Brooklyn, Canton, Cortland, Glens Falls, Highland, New York, and Warsaw), the New York State AHEC System works with health care institutions, practicing professionals and educators at all levels to promote careers in health care, especially with underserved populations.

Strategies include:
• developing opportunities for future health professionals to receive their clinical training in underserved areas, and recruiting faculty committed to working with them;
• encouraging young people, especially those from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds, to pursue health careers; and
• providing continuing education and professional support to health practitioners, developing career ladders that enable workers to advance, and promoting programs for adults re-entering the workforce.

Mission
To enhance access to quality health care and improve health care outcomes by addressing the health workforce needs of medically disadvantaged communities and populations through partnerships between the institutions that train health professionals and the communities that need them most.

“Connecting students to careers, professionals to communities, and communities to better health.”

Connecting students to careers
It is hard to imagine working in a field without any knowledge or role models. One of AHEC’s strategies is to guide students into an education “pipeline,” exposing them to the rewards of health care careers as early as possible. This not only encourages interest in health care, it also helps to assure that students take the math and science courses required for acceptance into college or training programs.

AHEC efforts also target adults who are seeking a new career, whose jobs have been eliminated, or who need new skills to keep pace with advancing technologies. Programs for retraining – plus assistance to overcome obstacles such as child care or transportation – direct people with good work skills into rewarding new careers in health care.

Connecting professionals to communities
Health care workers often return to practice where they were trained, and students learn from experience that it’s rewarding to work in underserved areas. That is why AHEC connects young people, students and practicing professionals to training opportunities with minority and disadvantaged populations, in rural areas and inner city neighborhoods.

Connecting communities to better health
Because AHECs emphasize community partnerships, AHEC training programs reflect each area’s unique needs and priorities. In rural settings, training focuses on overcoming distance, or supporting science and math exposure in smaller schools. In lower-income urban areas, training focuses on basic health and preventive care, as well as educating students about disparities so they can better understand the community. Ultimately, New York State AHEC System efforts will help achieve a more balanced distribution of health care resources and professionals – and thus better health – throughout the state.

The New York State AHEC System is part of a national AHEC network with centers in almost every state and the District of Columbia. The New York State AHEC System is funded through the federal Department of Health and Human Services (Bureau of Health Professions), New York State’s Health Care Reform Act of 2000, and local community support.