Do area health education center programs produce primary care specialists? Results of a longitudinal study

This longitudinal study examined the effect of an urban Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program on choice of primary care as a medical specialty by comparing three groups of medical students. The first group was not exposed to any AHEC clinical training. All other students were variously exposed: one group received AHEC training only in required ambulatory/primary care clerkships, whereas the other group voluntarily took one or more AHEC-sponsored clinical electives. Applying chi-square analysis and the Z-score test for correlated data, no meaningful program effect was found at the end of the fourth year of medical school or seven years after graduation. These results are discussed in the context of program implementation and contemporary medical education in the United States.