Panhandle Area Health Education Center (AHEC), located in the Harrington Academic Hall of the West Texas A&M University Amarillo Center, is one of six West Texas AHEC regional centers supporting the rural and underserved areas of West Texas.

Panhandle AHEC serves the top 20 counties of the Texas Panhandle:
Armstrong, Carson, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, and Wheeler.

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Our Mission

The mission of Panhandle AHEC is to address the healthcare provider shortage and improve healthcare access in the top 20 counties of the Texas Panhandle through education and development of the healthcare workforce.

To accomplish its mission, Panhandle AHEC focuses on the following strategies:

Programs:

Through the Junior Scholars program, Panhandle AHEC provides health career presentations and distributes Health Occupations in Texas (H.O.T.) Jobs directories to high schools and higher education students to enhance their interest in becoming future healthcare professionals. Panhandle AHEC also partners with established rural high school health science programs to provide hands-on training equipment that students can use to practice the skills they have learned. Upon completion of their health science programs and necessary testing, students can graduate high school with Industry-Based certifications as either Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA) and/or Patient Care Techs (PCT).

AHEC Scholars is a program for undergraduate and graduate health professions students interested in enhancing their education and experiences beyond the classroom. Students will gain knowledge and experiences in patient-centered team-based care and learn about unique challenges that face underserved rural and/or urban communities. Students should have a current interest in rural or underserved healthcare, be currently enrolled in a health professions degree or certificate program, be two years from degree completion, and commit to two years in the program and a one-time program follow-up. Panhandle AHEC will award AHEC scholars an $800 stipend upon completion of each year of the two-year program, for a total of $1600.

In collaboration with the West Texas AHEC Program Office, training is offered to become a Certified Community Health Worker (CHW). The Community Health Worker Certification Course provides 160 contact training hours on the following eight core competencies: Communication, Teaching, Interpersonal Skills, Service Coordination, Capacity Building, Advocacy, Organization, and Knowledge Base and is certified by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).

Panhandle AHEC partners with local community organizations to provide accredited, no-cost or low-cost continuing education opportunities for healthcare professionals.