California's rural San Joaquin Valley Area Health Education Center was one of the first of 11 AHECs funded nationally. Other sites were phased in over the next several years and the Statewide California AHEC system was funded from 1979-1988. It enjoyed a multitude of successes in health professions education with many of these programs continuing today. Model AHEC funding began in 1993 and the legacy of program development that leads to improved health care access, particularly for the underserved, continues.