Area Health Education Centers

Breaking news: Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-FL) has agreed to introduce NAW into the Congressional Record at some point prior to Spring Policy Days.
National AHEC Week was established by Congress in 2006 to acknowledge AHEC’s “tremendous impact on the healthcare of underserved populations in our country.”

The Malford Thewlis Lecture on Gerontology and Geriatrics
“What Can Centenarians Teach Us About Healthy Aging”
Presented by
Thomas T. Perls, MD, MPH
Director of the New England Centenarian Study
Associate Professor and Researcher, Boston University School of Medicine
Wednesday, April 8, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Edwards Auditorium at the URI Kingston campus
A reception will follow at the URI Alumni Center on Upper College Road from 4:30-5:30 pm. It will be of interest to educators and students, health care and human service professionals, and the general public.
Dr. Perls will discuss findings from the New England Centenarian Study that truly have an impact upon how well we age and how long we can live. He will also warn us about the anti-aging industry and its false messages and nostrums.
Dr. Perls attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine, followed by Harvard Medical School where he received his training as a geriatrician. The New England Centenarian Study, now in its thirteenth year, is the largest genetic and social study of centenarians and their families in the world. Dr. Perls is also a well known and outspoken critic of the anti-aging industry and its marketing of purported nostrums and elixirs ranging from skin creams to growth hormone. Recently, he testified before the United States Congress as its expert on growth hormone and anti-aging quackery.
View flyer here: Download file

On Tuesday, March 10, 2009 the US Senate gave final approval to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year after overcoming a resilient Republican opposition and several Democratic defections. For the AHEC Program it means that the AHEC line item under Title VII will be funded for FY2009 at $32.54 million, which is a significant increase from $28.18 million in FY2008.
What does this mean for the 54 AHEC programs and nearly 215 centers scattered throughout the US? Possibly an additional $10-20 thousand per program and center for next year. Doesn’t seem like much, but for those programs and centers that operate on small budgets (all of them, actually), and having seen no increases for many years, and indeed reductions for some, any additional funding can provide a great deal of opportunities to provide for the recruitment, retention and continuing education of the primary care workforce. There are myriad health professions student initiatives, continuing education opportunities, and health provider resources that can be developed and leveraged with these additional federal dollars. This is an exciting time for the AHEC program, and for other health professions training programs-now is the time to make inroads into the recruitment and training needs of the nation’s primary care health care system!