NC AHEC Program: Four Year Plan

Goals and Priorities for 2001-2005

The major challenge of the AHEC program for 2001-2005 is to maintain and strengthen existing initiatives in the face of diminishing resources and new programmatic opportunities. The NC AHEC Program is committed to continuing to provide the full spectrum of education and training activities designed to improve the supply, distribution, and quality of the health care workforce in North Carolina. These core AHEC initiatives include:

1. The support of health science students on rotation to AHEC sites in hospitals, community health centers, health departments, private practitioners' offices, and other community settings.
2. The support of primary care residency training in order to prepare primary care physicians to serve the communities of the state, as well as support for residency training in other shortage specialties.
3. The production of continuing education programs for all health practitioners in the state, delivered through an increasingly diverse mix of formats.
4. The provision of programs to recruit more disadvantaged and underrepresented young people into health careers, and to prepare them for success as they enter educational and training programs.
5. The provision of an array of library and information services for students, residents, and practicing health professionals throughout the state.
6. The development of special initiatives to respond to emerging workforce and educational needs in the state, such as responses to our growing Hispanic/Latino population and other community health efforts.

The 2001-2005 planning process has identified several broad goals which reflect critical program priorities and activities necessary for carrying out the NC AHEC Program's mission during the next four years.

Goal 1: Education and Training Programming

The AHEC Program will conduct health education and training programs which (a) conform to the Program's Mission; (b) stimulate an improved environment for professional practice with decreased isolation for health professionals throughout each AHEC region; (c) reflect the education needs of primary care practice sites in underserved areas; and (d) respond to changing health workforce needs. The AHEC Program will continue to support community-based education and training programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education levels in nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and the constituent professions in public health, allied health, and mental health services.

Priorities:

• Strengthen community-based student training through the support of growth in programs with our educational partners, the expansion of research and evaluation of community-based education, an increase in the diversity and cultural competency of preceptors
• Support primary care residency training programs first with strengthened financial resources, then through expanded curricula in practice improvement, disease prevention, and evidence-based medicine, as well as an increase in the number of underrepresented minority graduates and medical faculty.
• Respond to current workforce shortages, maldistribution, and training needs in all the health professions through expanded recruitment initiatives, distance degree educational opportunities, the development of additional clinical training sites, and support for the utilization of best practice models.

Goal 2: Health Careers and Workforce Diversity

The AHEC Program will encourage and strengthen the development of activities designed to improve the diversity and cultural competence of the health care workforce.

Priorities:

• Strengthen existing partnerships with historically minority institutions
• Expand cultural competency offerings throughout the state and within the AHEC system
• Increase statewide Health Careers and Workforce Diversity activities to recruit young people into health professions
• Support new collaborative projects with other AHEC educational programs

Goal 3: Information Technology

The NC AHEC Program will continue the development of its information technology infrastructure in order to allow students and health professionals flexible and expanded access to the full spectrum of AHEC educational programs and information services.

Priorities:

• Continue the development of a statewide technology infrastructure for administrative and education activities, including a centralized customer database, teleconferencing capacity, and Internet resources.
• Evaluate the educational effectiveness of Internet-based courses and expand the utilization of innovative formats for delivering educational programs.
• Provide information services that span the spectrum of educational programs for students and practitioners, with specific support for the AHEC Digital Library, the creation of centers of excellence within the AHEC system, the establishment of statewide standards for library services, and the development of training sites for students in library and information services programs.

Goal 4: Organizational Development

The AHEC Program will continue the development and evolution of an organizational structure and a style of administration which builds upon collaborative institutional partnerships, provides for regular input by AHEC-based faculty, coordinators, and staff in decisions influencing their programs and their careers, and utilizes its resources more efficiently by operating as a unified statewide system.

Priorities:

• Develop consistency and a collaborative model for continuing education that reflects common elements in program marketing, evaluation, reporting, and documentation, as well as minimum web presence standards.
• Maintain our capacity to respond to local needs while supporting efforts that will allow AHEC to operate more as a unified system.
• Assure a sound financial future for AHEC initiatives through improved efficiencies within the system, increased efforts to maximize revenue resources available from the state, contracts and grants, and generated revenue, and strategic decisions that focus programming efforts on areas of greatest need.
• Strengthen organizational support for AHEC faculty and staff through expanded professional development opportunities, competitive salaries and benefits, a positive work environment, and a staff more reflective of the diversity of the NC population.

Download a PDF version of the complete NC AHEC 4-Year Plan

Download a PDF verison of a summary of the NC AHEC 4-Year Plan

The North Carolina AHEC Program
CB# 7165, 101 Medical Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7165
Phone: (919) 966-2461 Fax: (919) 966-5830

last updated 12/19/01