Each year, the RHPP Directors and American Indian AHEC (AIH-AHEC) Director may recruit AHEC Scholars as follows:
Eligibility. To qualify for the ASP, students must be enrolled and remain enrolled in and meet all academic and didactic training requirements of their respective health professional program. Enrolled students are required to apply to the ASP through an on-line application. The 2025-27 application link is available at: Application AHEC Scholars Program (ASP) 2025-27. The application link remains available until September 14, 2025. Qualified students are as follows:
- RHPP Acceptance and Assignment Process. Each RHPP Director evaluates applicants from their own college for participation in the AHEC Scholars Program through the on-line SalesForce portal and advises the Arizona AHEC Program Office of approval through the same portal. The respective RHPP Director advises applicants who are not accepted into the ASP.
- AIH-AHEC Acceptance and Assignment Process. The AIH-AHEC Director recruits and evaluates applicants from NAU’s undergraduate Nursing and College of Public Health for participation in the AHEC Scholars Program through the on-line SalesForce portal and advises the Arizona AHEC Program Office of approval through the same portal. The AIH-AHEC Director advises applicants who are not accepted into the ASP.
The Arizona AHEC Program Office advises the applicants who have been accepted into the ASP, assigns them to an interprofessional team of two or more disciplines, and advises Scholars, Faculty Mentors, Centers, and RHPP Directors of center assignment.
The AHEC Scholars Program and Degree Requirements. Each participating RHPP college determines how AHEC Scholar expectations work within degree requirements. RHPP Directors arrange appropriate student clinical training experiences for their RHPP participants and ensures these experiences are recorded in the Salesforce database.
The AIH-AHEC Director establishes a process with NAU Department of Health Sciences whereby clinical training experiences for all students are reported by AIH-AHEC into the Salesforce database.
All AHEC Scholars additionally receive community immersion experiences (beyond their degree and program requirements including clinical training) that are the foundation of the AHEC Scholars Program.
Quarterly Scholar Validation Process. Each participating RHPP and the AIH-AHEC is required to validate scholars' matriculation and CBET status on a quarterly basis. RHPPs will submit to: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ddx13zJJKEXTBoa and AIH-AHEC will submit to: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5v5ZziYWSiQ8rvU . The Arizona AHEC Program Office will email each RHPP and the AIH-AHEC a template that lists their scholars with information needed for validation. The quarterly validation reports are due on (or next working day) 11/15, 2/17, and 5/15. RHPPs and AIH-AHEC will receive the template no later than 30 days prior to the due date of the quarterly report.
Scholars Evaluation and Digital Badge Completion: The ASP engages Scholars through immersion in a select rural or urban medically underserved community and provides skills to meaningfully collaborate effectively with each other in communities and impact future practice. Scholars are evaluated by their assigned regional Center and Faculty Mentor based on participation, but do not receive a letter grade. Instead, Scholars are issued an AHEC Scholars Program digital badge upon completion of the ASP. The digital badge can be shared electronically with others via email or social media networks, and can be displayed on resumes, email signatures, job boards or anywhere across the web. The digital badge remains active for two years following ASP completion.