Message from the Co-Principal Investigators
Dear Friend:
We are pleased to share with you information about the Michigan Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Established by Wayne State University (WSU) in 2010, Michigan AHEC seeks to improve community health and strengthen Michigan's economy by recruiting, training, and retaining a diverse workforce of health professionals in medically underserved and health professional shortage areas throughout our state.
Michigan AHEC is funded through support from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Kresge Foundation, and WSU. The mission of the program is to enhance access to quality health care, particularly primary and preventive care, by improving the supply and distribution of health care professionals through community and educational partnerships. Michigan AHEC strives to accomplish this mission by:
- Preparing underrepresented and disadvantaged youth for health care careers,
- Promoting clinical training opportunities for health students in underserved and shortage areas, and
- Providing continuing education programs for health professionals.
Michigan residents, whether they live in rural areas, small towns, inner cities or suburbs, deserve access to quality, affordable primary care to maintain good health. Michigan AHEC is an opportunity for you and your organization to help improve health care in your community.
Michigan AHEC works through a statewide network of regional centers, which are locally managed. The centers are located in Detroit, Houghton Lake, Gwinn and Mount Pleasant. The regional centers have established community boards to help identify local health priorities and develop programs to address health and primary care needs by region. Community input will determine Michigan AHEC's direction and impact in your region, so we need your support. We hope you will work with us to develop statewide community-based partnerships that will help us achieve AHEC's goals.
If you have any questions or if you would like to discuss developing a partnership with Michigan AHEC, contact us by phone at (313) 577-5161 or by e-mail at miahec@wayne.edu.
Sincerely,
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| Ramona Benkert, PhD, ANP-BC, FAANP | Jinping Xu, MD, MS, FAAFP |