AHEC program welcomes 74 new scholars

The Nebraska Area Health Education Center Program recently welcomed its newest class of AHEC Scholars.

The program, part of a national initiative, is designed to prepare health profession students to serve in rural and urban underserved areas of the state.

During the two-year program, which was established by UNMC in 2001, students engage with a variety of health professionals, community leaders and potential employers. They gain insight into health care issues, culture and environmental factors, and community resources in Nebraska to better understand future patients and communities they will serve.

“The program is really geared toward those who want to practice in underserved communities,” said Lydia Sand, deputy director and program manager for the Nebraska AHEC program. “It’s a rural-focused program, but so many underserved pockets and communities fit that niche.”

In addition to UNMC, students in the program also come from community college partners across the state.

Students are eligible if they have at least two years of schooling left and fall into one of the approved tracts, including medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and physical therapy.

Scholars, including this year’s class of 74, are closer to being in the workforce, Sand said.

In the first year of AHEC programming, scholars learn about different objective areas. In the second year, they apply and integrate those objectives.

Scholars learn about things like social determinants of health, standards of patient safety, opioid use in Nebraska and LGBTQ+ health.

Scholars are supported by five regional AHECs across the state: Omaha, Northern in Norfolk, Central in Kearney, Panhandle in Scottsbluff and Southeast in Lincoln.

In addition to mini lectures, scholars also receive certification in at least one area — mental health, first aid training or patient safety and quality.

The goal for this class, as with previous classes, is to continue positioning AHEC scholars in a way that meets a need with rural employers, Sand said.

Find more about AHEC and this year’s class of scholars here.