USF AHEC encourages the next generation of health care professionals by providing opportunities for middle and high school students to learn about health care careers. AHEC also works with current medical students to introduce them to the rewards and challenges of working with the medically needy.

We need you! We are faced with a crisis - not enough nurses, physicians, dentists and more. Have you thought about who will care for you when you havehealth problems? If you are a minority, studies show you are more likely to choose a health provider of your own racial and ethnic background. But only 12 percent of students graduating from medical school are African American, Hispanic or Native American. Minority and disadvantaged youth are also underrepresented in other health professions programs like nursing, pharmacy and dentistry as well.

The USF AHEC Program inspires youth, just like you, to choose a career in the health professions. We focus on recruiting more minority and disadvantaged youth into health careers because research and experience show they will be more likely to care for the medically needy. As our population becomes more diverse, we need an equally diverse health care workforce. We need more providers who speak the same language and share the same racial or ethnic background as their patients.

Programs offered to educate and inspire youth to choose a career in health include: health careers information and field trips, camps, summer academy programs, the REACH program (Recruitment and Educational Assistance for Careers in Health), career fairs, mentoring programs, college preparatory courses, guest speakers and more. These programs offer a fun and exciting environment with real-world examples. You might travel to Tampa General Hospital and learn how to stitch up an incision or spend time talking to college students who are pursuing a career in health. These opportunities are designed for you to discover the possibilities available in the health professions, introduce you to the requirements for college and equip you with the tools, information and resources you need to pursue a health career.

We need you to be the next generation of health care professionals!