Southwest Virginia AHEC
Building the workforce by producing culturally competent healthcare professionals.
Our Service Area
The Southwest region includes the counties of Alleghany, Bland, Botetourt, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig, Dickenson, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Montgomery, Pulaski, Roanoke, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe, and the cities of Bristol, Covington, Galax, Norton, Radford, Roanoke, and Salem.
We inspire students with Outreach Pipeline Tours, Health Science Fairs, and Summer Enrichment Programs.
Our Scholar’s Program engages students with practical, hands-on training, professional mentoring, and networking opportunities.
Our Continuing Medical Education helps sustain healthcare workers in rural Southwest Virginia.
Virginia's Area Health Education Centers
A statewide Effort
The Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority (VHWDA) was established by the General Assembly to identify and address health workforce issues in the Commonwealth. The VHWDA accomplishes this by addressing nine core functions as stated in the Code of Virginia. The VHWDA assesses health workforce needs in Virginia; sets priorities for the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program; informs health care workforce policy; promotes strategies for health workforce pipeline development; supports collaborations between communities, businesses, and social organizations to facilitate recruitment and retention efforts; advocates reducing the student debt load of health professionals; identifies High Priority Target Areas (HPTAs) within each region of the Commonwealth; and aims to create innovative health workforce development models.
Our Youtube Series
Career Videos at SWVA AHEC
Listen to any of our regional healthcare professionals talk about their typical work day!
- Primary Care
- Physician Assistant
- Pharmacy
- Social Work/Behavioral Health
- Nursing
- Physical Therapy
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Anesthesiology