Model-State Supported Area Health Education Centers Program

Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (RowanSOM) received a five-year, $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to continue support for the New Jersey Area Health Education Centers (NJ AHEC). Affiliated with RowanSOM for more than 40 years, the NJ AHEC Program partners with Southwestern AHEC, Garden AHEC, and Shore AHEC to serve the seven South Jersey counties, providing a sustained platform for training medical and health professions students to deliver culturally competent care in medically underserved communities. Under the leadership of Kristin N. Bertsch, Ph.D., Director of NJ AHEC, the program operates as a longitudinal, interprofessional curriculum with a defined set of training activities located in underserved areas of New Jersey. The program is a collaboration among RowanSOM, Camden County College, Rowan College of South Jersey, Rutgers University School of Nursing, and the Departments of Nursing and Psychology at Rowan University, creating opportunities for students from multiple disciplines to learn and work together in community settings.

The NJ AHEC curriculum emphasizes interprofessional education, behavioral health integration, social determinants of health, cultural competency, and emerging health issues, and it incorporates virtual learning and telehealth modalities. Students who complete the two-year program earn a certificate of completion as AHEC Scholars, joining a national cohort of approximately 39,000 graduates across 49 programs. The AHEC Scholar distinction signals a demonstrated commitment to serving medically underserved communities and equips participants with practical experience and community-engaged skills.

AHEC program requirements include establishing a youth public health initiative aimed at recruiting high school students, ensuring that at least ten percent of clinical education occurs within community settings, and developing curricula in community-based accredited primary care residency programs. These elements are designed to prepare trainees to work with humility and cultural sensitivity while confronting health inequities rooted in income, gender, race, and geographic location. By placing learners in community contexts, the program fosters the development of strategies and solutions that extend beyond the classroom and directly address local health priorities.

This interprofessional collaboration that provides unique training experiences through partnerships with community organizations and academic institutions. The program's intent is to inspire and prepare students to work in underserved communities and to help alleviate physician shortages and other workforce gaps in these areas. With sustained federal funding over five years, RowanSOM and its AHEC partners will continue to deliver and refine a multifaceted educational model that blends clinical training, public health outreach, and community partnership to strengthen the pipeline of culturally competent health professionals committed to service in medically underserved regions.