The National Health Service Corps--a critical component of provider recruitment in North Carolina's rural and underserved communities.

NC Med J May/June 2010, Volume 71, Number 3 In 1972, the AHEC program was created as one mechanism to coordinate the many emerging federal and state programs related to health workforce development. By the 1980s these were bundled under the rubric of Title VII (referring to a subsection of the Public Health Service Act) for physicians, dentists, and other non-nursing health professions. The recent health reform legislation has amended, extended, or enlarged many programs under Titles VII and VIII and has created some new programs that are classified under those sections. Other components of the overall bill touch on or will have important effects on the workforce, but this commentary will focus mainly on the elements under those two parts of the Public Health Service Act. One of the recognized problems in health workforce policy has been the lack of coordination across programs. In the discussions leading up to the passage of health reform there were several proposals to create some form of coordinating mechanism. In the end, the legislation establishes a National Health Workforce Commission charged with reviewing health workforce supply and demand, evaluating existing programs, and making recommendations on policies and priorities. That commission will consist of 15 members drawn from a range of stakeholder groups, but with health professionals mentioned as only one of the eight groups. The commission is to provide recommendations to Congress and the Administration on national health workforce priorities, The National Health Service Corps – A Critical Component of Provider Recruitment in North Carolina’s Rural and underserved Communities