Position on allied health professions education and funding

ASAHP recommends that the federal government should, as the largest consumer of health care, play a central role in partnership with state governments and private institutions in reducing shortages of allied health personnel. Furthermore, ASAHP believes that this role should encompass attracting students (particularly from minority and underserved portions of the population) both to academic allied health programs through the provision of entry-level traineeships and advanced programs which prepare allied health professionals for careers as educators and researchers. No federal programs were authorized specifically to support allied health education during the period from 1981 to 1989. PL 100-607, the Health Professions Reauthorization Act of 1988, authorized $6 million ($2 million in each of three categories), but only $737,000 was appropriated in FY 1990 for Allied Health Grants and Contracts. The Bureau of Health Professions subsequently received 122 proposals in February 1990, representing more than $10,000,000 in requests for this limited amount. Since then, the Bureau has received an average of 100 proposals for each annual funding cycle. In addition to providing continuation grants for existing projects, the Bureau is currently able to award an average of 10 new grants each year. The $3,935,000 appropriated for FY 1995 will be used to fund perhaps another 12 to 15 initiatives. ASAHP believes that substantially more financial assistance is required than what is currently being appropriated. Furthermore, the most suitable venue for the federal government to affect reductions in the shortage of allied health professionals is through the advanced training portion of the Section 766 Program, which remains unfunded.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)