The San Joaquin Valley AHEC is located in Fresno, the largest city in California's central valley. The service area covers seven counties located in the San Joaquin Valley which recently has had a population explosion fueled by immigration from Mexico, Southeast Asia and Central America. This AHEC has expanded the local Family Practice Residency Programs into pathways at two local community clinics: the Selma Clinic and the Sequoia Community Clinic.

The San Joaquin Valley AHEC is also involved in a local Partnership for Training grant funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. With matching dollars from the AHEC, they have developed challenge examinations for coursework for students who need to convert their work experience to college credit toward a masters or bachelors degree. They also sponsor courses taken by telecourse, the Internet or other distance learning applications.

The University of California has decided to make the Area Health Education Center Program an important part of its strategy to increase the ratio of primary care-to-specialty training. It has streamlined the organizational structure of the AHEC to avoid diffusing scarce state and federal funds. University of California San Francisco is the lead campus with seven other affiliated schools of medicine partnering with community based organizations to form 10 AHEC Centers. Currently, only eight are seeking Federal Model dollars. Guidance to the program is given by a Statewide Program Advisory Committee which is comprised of representatives of all Centers, medical and osteopathic schools, consumers, providers and related agencies.