Cynthia Selleck, DSN, ARNP

Cynthia Selleck, DSN, ARNP, program director of the USF Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program, became president of the National AHEC Organization (NAO) Oct. 1. The NAO is a national membership organization that supports and advances 50 AHEC programs and more than 200 centers operating in almost every state. AHECs work to improve the health of individuals and communities by transforming health care through education.

Dr. Selleck served on the NAO Board for the last six years in several capacities, including member-at-large of the Program Director’s Constituency Group (PDCG), secretary of the PDCG, secretary of the NAO Board and, most recently, president-elect.

“Cindy is an articulate and effective spokesperson at the board table, at USF, or on Capitol Hill on behalf of the issues that affect AHECs and the constituencies we serve, said Susan Moreland, NAO Immediate Past President and CEO of the North Louisiana AHEC. “She exemplifies exactly the characteristics of leadership that the National AHEC Organization and the national AHEC network need at this time.”

Dr. Selleck will serve a one-year term as NAO president. She will be a political advocate for the organization at the national level — working to restore Title VII funding for health professions programs to previous funding levels, to ensure that an AHEC Program exists in every state, and that recruitment, retention and training of health professionals for the medically underserved is a priority. Dr. Selleck will lead the NAO to identify and secure alternative funding sources through foundations as well as membership dues and affiliate membership options. In addition, she will work to collaborate more closely with partnering organizations — including the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) — to leverage resources and to expand programming and advocacy efforts.

“I am excited about the opportunity to work with AHEC Program and Center staff from around the country as well as with other organizations with similar missions,” Dr. Selleck said. “I’ve always been impressed with the dedication and talent of NAO members who volunteer their time on behalf of this organization. It’s all because we believe that inequities in health care access and quality are unacceptable.”

Dr. Selleck, an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine, has been AHEC Program Director at the USF College of Medicine since 1994. She oversees a nine-county service area and two AHEC centers that connect students to careers, professionals to communities and communities to better health.

Dr. Selleck also serves as the USF College of Medicine Ambassador to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), assisting students and clinicians interested in NHSC’s scholarship and loan repayment programs.

– About AHEC –

The USF AHEC Program connects students to careers, professionals to communities and communities to better health. We inspire, train, recruit and retain a diverse and broad range of health professionals to practice in communities where the need is greatest. The USF AHEC Program began in 1993 and covers a nine-county area on the central west coast of the state from as far north as Citrus to as far south as Charlotte county. Community activities are carried out by our two local AHEC Centers, Gulfcoast North AHEC in Land O’ Lakes serving Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties and Gulfcoast South AHEC in Sarasota, which serves Charlotte, Desoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

– About USF Health –

USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With $308 million in research funding last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of Florida’s top three research universities.