Cascades East Area Health Education Center serves Central and Southeastern Oregon, a territory of over 37,000 sq. miles that includes Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, and Lake counties plus the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. CEAHEC is hosted by St. Charles Health System.

Announcements

  • Spark! Lighting the Way for the Future of Medicine is coming to Worthy Brewing in Bend on Tuesday, May 13, from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. Enjoy drinks and appetizers while connecting with colleagues and friends and discover the impactful work OMEF is doing to support Oregon’s future PA, DO, and MD students.

    The event is free, and space is limited, please RSVP by clicking here. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to OMEF at (503) 619-8129.

  • Virtual and free presentation on navigating grief empathy and vicarious trauma. May 13th from 10:30am-11:30am. Register here!

  • Wy’east Medicine is an immersive 10-month pathway designed specifically for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) learners who are committed to becoming physicians. The goal of the Pathway is to help prepare its scholars to be successful in medical school and beyond.  

    • The Pathway offers an intensive curriculum that includes rigorous coursework in biomedical sciences, population health, and MCAT preparation, in addition to immersive cultural support, mentorship, clinical shadowing experience, and much more.   

    • The Pathway is tuition-free. Scholars will also receive a monthly living stipend to help offset living expenses.  

    • Upon acceptance to Wy’east Medicine, scholars are conditionally accepted to the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Medicine. Final acceptance is awarded upon (1) satisfactory completion of the Pathway and (2) meeting all final matriculation requirements of the OHSU School of Medicine.     

    • The application for the Wy’east Medicine Pathway opens on March 31, 2025. All application materials are due on May 16th.    

    We encourage you to review the attached flyer and the OHSU website for further details, including application requirements and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).  

  • August 4th-6th, 2025 get a head start on applying to medical school or physical therapy school! Apply for DREAM at: bit.ly/applyfordream

Our Programs

Health Occupations

Cascades East AHEC hosts the health occupations program at St. Charles Health System (SCHS) for high school students. Learn More →

MedStars

MedStars is a multi-day health career exploration camp for high school students in the Cascades East region.  Learn More →

CEAHEC coordinates clinical job shadowing requests for St. Charles Health System (SCHS). Learn More →

Independent Job Shadowing

Diagnosis Day

Diagnosis Day is a one-day experience on the St. Charles, Bend campus for high school students from rural Central Oregon. Learn More →

AHEC Stories

ELIZABETH EGOAVIL Scholarship Awardee, Nuclear Medicine Technologist

 “Thank you for choosing me to receive this scholarship for the past four years while attending OIT. This scholarship helped me complete my degree in Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. I became interested in healthcare after my older sister attended OIT for the ultrasound program. She always told me that I belonged in healthcare because of my humorous and positive personality that could bring a smile to anyone's face, even if they were going through a hard time. That’s when I discovered Nuclear Medicine and how it looks at both the function and anatomy of the human body, along with its role in cancer treatments.

Now that I have completed my degree and passed all my state tests, I am excited and can’t wait to help those at St. Ann Hospital in Burien, Washington! My goal is to gain experience, move back to Madras, Oregon, and help those in my community.

Thank you again for your generosity and support!”

ANDREW CLUSSERATH College Student, Job Shadow Participant

"Thank you for helping me at the beginning of my journey. It was immensely helpful to be able to shadow different types of PTs at the hospital for my DPT applications. Since all my acceptances have come in, I've decided to stay here in Bend and attend OSU-Cascades! This is my top choice hands down.  Bend is my home so being able to transition my career in a place where I feel comfortable and supported is a huge blessing. Thank you for being a resource in my journey. "