The National Area Health Education Center Program and Primary Care Residency Training

The Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program was established in 1972 to improve the supply, distribution, retention and quality of primary care and other health practitioners in medically underserved areas. Through academic/community partnerships, regional AHECs offer a broad array of educational programs for students, residents and practicing health professionals. With primary care medical education a core part of AHEC programs, AHECs have been involved in decentralized residency training from the outset, with particular attention to family medicine. This paper provides an overview of the national AHEC program, its core components and its support for primary care residency training. Although AHECs have achieved considerable success in training primary care physicians for their respective states, continued refinements of programs are needed to address the needs of the most rural and underserved communities.