Message from our Director

Welcome to the Indiana Area Health Education Centers Network (IN AHEC)! We're dedicated to collaborating with our partners across the state of Indiana to enhance healthcare accessibility in underserved and rural communities. The IN AHEC Network achieves this goal through four distinctive avenues:

Healthcare Workforce Development: By actively engaging with communities, we establish connections between learners hailing from underrepresented, rural, and disadvantaged backgrounds, and provide them with enriching career exploration, clinical training, community-based experiences, and professional development opportunities. This approach fosters and supports their educational and career journey in the healthcare profession. Our career exploration pathway programs begin in K-12 education and continue through secondary education, extending into professional practice.

Academic-Community Connector: We bring together academia, healthcare practitioners, health systems, credentialing organizations, nonprofit entities, economic development corporations, government agencies, and professional associations. Our focus is specifically on addressing healthcare access challenges in rural and urban underserved areas across Indiana.

Workforce Evaluation and Research: We design and deliver program evaluations and research initiatives related to healthcare workforce development. Our focus areas include academic-community partnerships, programs to enrich the healthcare workforce, and the ongoing monitoring and assessment of program outcomes.

Health Systems Enrichment: We offer unique learning opportunities for individuals to enhance their capacity to shape the future of healthcare systems. This includes focusing on interprofessional practice and education, integration of behavioral health, transformation of healthcare practices, community health, cultural competence, understanding social determinants of health, and staying abreast of emerging healthcare issues.

Developing a healthcare workforce capable of caring for our most vulnerable community members is a collaborative effort. We are deeply grateful to all our partners throughout the state who are working alongside us to fulfill our mission. We invite you to join us in these endeavors as we strive to make healthcare accessible to all.

Jennifer Taylor, DHEd, MPH, MCHES
Executive Director, Indiana AHEC Network
Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine