THE KENTUCKY AREA HEALTH EDUCATION CENTER PROGRAM UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITIES WORKING TOGETHER TO MEET KENTUCKY'S HEALTH MANPOWER NEEDS

Issues of imbalance in the number and
specialty of physicians and the supply of
other health professionals have been
important areas of health policy concern
for decades, and particularly so in the
last 20 years. Nationwide, both state and
federal programs have been developed to
address these issues.

Kentucky, a predominantly rural state,
has an ongoing problem attracting and
retaining doctors, dentists, pharmacists,
and other health professionals in rural
areas throughout the state. As in other
states, a number of programs focus activities
on improving health manpower distribution
in rural areas. The Kentucky
Area Health Education Program (AHEC) , a
collaborative effort between the University
of Kentucky and the University of Louisville,
is unique among these programs.

This Kentucky AHEC Program, the most
recent of a long series of initiatives in the
state to address rural health needs, has a
history dating back to the 1970s. The
Area Health Education System, or (AHES)
program, upon which AHEC was later
built, provided training experiences for
students in rural parts of the state. This
program was developed in response to a
statement made by then-Governor Wendell
Ford, who wanted to see "some type of
linkup with technical and clinical education
opportunities at the local level."