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South Central AHEC Frequently Asked Questions and Information
The South Central Area Health Education Center (South Central AHEC) is one of five AHEC Center Offices in South Texas. It was established in 1995 to improve the supply, distribution, quality, and utilization of health professionals in Bexar and eleven surrounding counties. This is accomplished through the development of community-academic partnerships to facilitate regional health professions education programs. The South Central AHEC is affiliated with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and works in collaboration with all educational and health-related facilities in the region.
How is it funded?
The South Central AHEC is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. As part of the South Texas AHEC Program run by the Center for South Texas Programs at UTHSCSA, the South Central AHEC is funded by the State of Texas and by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The South Central AHEC has also received other Federal and private grants and other types of funding for special projects.
Why is the South Central AHEC needed?
Of the twelve counties in the South Central AHEC region, all but one are designated, in whole or in part, as Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and/or Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) for Dental, Mental, and/or Primary Care. While, in theory, counties surrounding Bexar have access to the considerable medical services available at the Medical Center complex in northwest San Antonio, many residents in the rural outlying counties, and even in portions of Bexar County, suffer the same types of barriers (socioeconomic, transportation-related, and other) that have historically been a problem throughout South Texas. By offering community-based health professional education programs, we expect that our graduates will be more likely to return their communities or to other underserved communities to practice.
South Central AHEC Activities:
The ultimate goal of community-based education of health professionals is to get more providers to remain in underserved communities. Community-based education programs, as funded by the South Central AHEC, can take many forms:
- Clinical training of medical, dental, nursing, and allied health students in rural and medically underserved communities, away from major university training sites.
- Establishment and support for training and education programs in responsive to community needs.
- Medical library and other information services for community health practitioners.
- Establishment of telecommunications capabilities within communities so they can tie-in to UTHSCSA for health-related programming.
- Continuing education for health professionals in remote communities, either through on-site training or telecommunication.
- Health professions awareness programs for elementary, middle school, and high school students.
- Support for training and education activities designed to increase the number of individuals from minority and medically underserved communities and/or populations who enter health careers.