AETC Mission and History

Program Background and Goals

The AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) Program of the Ryan White CARE Act currently supports a network of 11 regional centers (and more than 130 local performance sites) that conduct targeted, multi-disciplinary education and training programs for healthcare providers treating persons with HIV/AIDS. The AETCs serve all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the six U.S.-affiliated Pacific Jurisdictions. The mission of the AETCs is to improve the quality of life of patients living with HIV/AIDS through the provision of high quality professional education and training. The AETC Program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau.

For more information on HRSA, please visit HRSA's website. Included on the site are Biennial Progress Reports on the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, and the AETC Fact Sheet.

Training

Training is targeted to providers who serve minority populations, the homeless, rural communities, incarcerated persons, community and migrant health centers, and Ryan White CARE Act-funded sites. AETCs focus on training a diverse group of clinicians including physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, nurses, oral health professionals, and pharmacists. Training activities are based upon assessed local needs. Emphasis is placed on interactive, hands-on training and clinical consultation to assist providers with complex issues related to the management of highly active antiretroviral therapy. AETCs collaborate with CARE Act-funded organizations, area health education centers, community-based HIV/AIDS organizations, and medical and health professional organizations. Since 1991, the AETC program has sponsored more than 700,000 training interactions for providers. Clinicians trained by AETCs have been shown to be more competent with regard to HIV issues and more willing to treat persons living with HIV than other primary care providers.

Consultation, Capacity Building, and Technical Assistance

Local and national AETCs are available for both case-based and organizational consulting and technical assistance. The National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center operates a Warmline (800-933-3413) for individual clinician case consultations, a PEPLine (888-448-4911) for consultations on post-exposure prophylaxis, and a Perinatal Hotline: 888-HIV-8765 (888-448-8765) for questions about the care of HIV-infected pregnant women as well as indications and interpretations of rapid and standard HIV tests.

The AETC National Resource Center (NRC) offers a virtual library of online training resources for adaptation to meet local training needs, timely, high quality, state-of-the-art clinical information, and training materials on new and emerging issues important to HIV care providers at www.aidsetc.org , and listservs providing information about updates in clinical treatment guidelines, availability of new training resources and newly available government documents.

The AETC National Evaluation Center provides leadership in the development, design, testing, and dissemination of effective evaluation models for determining the effect that AETC clinical education and training programs have on provider behavior and clinical practice with respect to changes in knowledge and skills, clinical practice behavior, and improved patient outcomes.