MassAHEC Network

Location: 333 South St., Shrewsbury, MA 01545
Telephone: 508-856-4305
URL: http://chpr.umassmed.edu/our-programs/massahec-network

The MassAHEC Network, a program of UMass Chan Medical School since1978, works with centers in Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester, Lawrence, Boston and Brockton through a central office in Shrewsbury. The mission of the MassAHEC Network is to reduce health disparities across the Commonwealth by enhancing the skills and increasing the diversity of the health care workforce and facilitating access to culturally and linguistically responsive health care services.

AHEC, which stands for Area Health Education Center, is a federally funded program that is available nationally and collaborates with the National Health Service Corps and other programs focused on improving access to care for underserved populations. The MassAHEC Network’s central office and centers are active partners in the Population Health Clerkship, several interclerkships, as well as the Rural Health Scholars and Pathways programs. MassAHEC also supports community based primary care clerkships.

Rotations and learning experiences in other states are made possible through partnerships with other AHEC centers across the country. Students have gone to AHEC centers outside of Massachusetts, including Montana, Vermont, Indiana, Maryland and Colorado.

MassAHEC will also contribute to your experiences in less visible ways. As a physician, you will work with other members of the health care team. MassAHEC has a long-standing commitment to support the effectiveness of the health care team, particularly by improving access to health care for culturally/linguistically diverse populations. When you work with a medical interpreter or a community health worker, they were most likely trained by MassAHEC. If you need help drafting patient education materials or a flyer for community work, MassAHEC can help with ensuring that those materials will be understood by the people you are working with, written in clear language and translated as needed into the language or languages spoken in the community.