AHEC Tobacco Program
at the FSU College of Medicine

The Area Health Education Center (AHEC) at the FSU College of Medicine was established as part of the authorizing legislation which created our 21st century medical school. Located in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, the AHEC program supports the College’s mission and has a focus on developing clinical training opportunities for students in rural areas and supporting the College’s wide-ranging youth mentoring programs. The FSU AHEC Program is part of an extensive, statewide network of university and community based AHECs.

In July 2007, the Florida legislature appropriated funds to establish the AHEC Tobacco Training and Cessation Program. The overall goal of the AHEC Tobacco Training and Cessation Program is to strengthen the capacity of Florida’s healthcare system to deliver effective evidence-based tobacco use treatment. The FSU AHEC has a unique focus on training the behavioral health workforce to deliver tobacco cessation treatment and better serve the needs of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders whose extremely high tobacco use rates exacerbate existing health disparities.

In 2010, FSU AHEC established its Tobacco Treatment Specialist Foundation Course which is an internationally recognized training program that is accredited by the Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs.