Although we focus our activities on the primary care practitioners and other health care professionals in our region, anyone may use our services for a fee. We have both instate and out-of-state fees for our classes. Our library fees vary by service. The best way to obtain these rates is by calling our Director.

Please contact Mid-Carolina AHEC, Inc. for assistance.

If you are a health care facility who does not already receive our brochures, we will be glad to put you on our mailing list for classes. Due to the cost, we do not place individuals on our mailing list for brochures. If there is a specific class in which you are interested, we would be happy to send you a brochure for that class.

The easiest way to get an up-to-date list of courses is to visit www.midcarolinaahec.org, which is frequently updated (i.e. once a month). You will also get lots of other helpful information there, as well as information about any new services we offer.

Mid-Carolina AHEC, Inc.'s activities are directed by a regional Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of the 12 Hospital Administrators in our region.

The Staff Development Directors of our Hospital Consortium are closely involved in our operations. This group meets every two months, six times per year. These educators establish our list of Core Curriculum classes and approve the learning objectives of our classes. This group is responsible for requesting 100% of our class offerings held at their hospitals.

Becky S. Seignious is the Director of the South Carolina AHEC Recruitment and Retention Programs.   She can assist you in locating a partner, PA or NP.  She is at the South Carolina AHEC Program Office at 19 Hagood Avenue, Suite 802, Charleston, SC and you may reach her at 843.792.4439, email her at seignior@musc.edu or fax her at 843.792.4430.

You may also contact one of our Health Professions Student Coordinators. Because we support PA and nurse practitioner students during clinical placements throughout the year and are in contact with their academic programs, we are often in a position to put you in touch with recent graduates or students who are completing their degrees and considering employment opportunities.

Yes, AHEC can help!  AHEC has a low-cost locum tenens program that can provide you with a family medicine or pediatric physician at a very nominal fee.   Please contact Becky Seignious at 843.792.4439 or email her at seignior@musc.edu to find out more information about this program.

You have several options. We maintain a lending library of Network for Continuing Medical Education video tapes. You may conduct your own search for literature on the Grateful Med website at the National Library of Medicine, or you can use SC AHEC Information Services. For more information please e-mail Charles Brown, M.L.S., Project Manager at browncha@musc.edu or call 843-792-2327 (Fax 843-792-5476).

AHEC and DHEC are not affiliated with each other, nor are we similar. Although we have collaborated together to reach health care professionals on outreach projects and grants, we are different in our mission and organizational structure. DHEC is a state agency. The AHEC Program Office is an office of the Medical University of South Carolina and has a mission involving the training of primary care practitioners in the State. The four AHEC Centers in the state are part of the organizational structure of the hospital in which they are located, or are nonprofit corporations. None of the four AHECs are state agencies.

No, we are a private, not-for-profit corporation. We receive the majority of our funding from the State of South Carolina; however we contract for this funding each year with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), agreeing to provide three core services in our region.

All four regional AHECs offer three core services. Regional AHEC centers are funded to provide 1) Continuing Education, 2) Health Professions Students, and 3) Student Development and Diversity Services. Medical library services are available through a centralized service at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

Mid-Carolina AHEC, Inc. currently has two opportunities for membership. Membership fees of the hospital consortium are based on the total number of FTEs. Rates for other institutions are very reasonable. Associate membership is available at the agency or individual level.

The Board of Mid-Carolina AHEC, Inc. is always interested in ways to better serve our region. If you have any thoughts or ideas on how we might improve or expand our services, please write to us, or contact the Director of Mid-Carolina AHEC, Inc.

As a result of their cash and in-kind support, hospital consortium members receive all of our services free-of-charge. Depending upon their size, consortium members make cash contributions from $2,000 to $60,000 annually.

In 1999, we established a nonvoting membership category, which entitles members to a variety of services at a discount. This membership category is for clinics, medical practices, long term care facilities, and others. Fees are based on services needed, size of organization, and other factors.

The AHEC system receives approximately $19 million annually. Approximately $14.5 million is spent on primary care practitioner education and graduate medical education. The remaining dollars are distributed to four (4) AHEC Centers. As a result, AHEC is best known for medical education. In 1995, the South Carolina AHEC Central Office at MUSC and the consortium members of the AHEC system reaffirmed and increased their emphasis on primary care practitioner training. This was done after careful consideration of the changing health care environment in South Carolina and numerous discussions on how to best serve the citizens of our State. The role of AHEC Centers in this new structure has not been defined. It is, of course, a primary concern of Mid-Carolina AHEC, Inc. that primary care practitioners and health care professionals, especially those working in the rural regions of South Carolina, continue to be served by AHECs who work to support them after graduation.