Background
The Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is a private, non-profit, 501(C) 3 organization, which became operational in 1997. Governed by a 16 person Board of Directors, AHEC services the nine counties comprising Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
AHEC’s goal is to increase the number of health care providers who provide services in rural and underserved areas and eliminate health disparities among diverse populations of the Eastern Shore by providing and coordinating programs that improve the health status of all. In the face of rapidly changing demographics in the region, AHEC leverages federal, state and local resources to support health careers promotion, health professions student rotations in underserved rural communities, continuing education, and community health promotion activities.
Since 1997, Eastern Shore AHEC has achieved important impacts in the region: significant increase in rural rotation site development with 162 participating preceptors; 17,000 health professionals participated in the Continuing Education program; delivery of health careers educational activities for 63,000 K-12 students; development of a rural oral health outreach program that has increased access to oral health services to over 35,000 low-income children; conducted interdisciplinary training for 800 health professions students in geriatric settings; 16,000 interlibrary loans have been fulfilled; and 1,869 participants have successfully completed Aging Simulation Sensitivity Training since 2005.
