In addition to its core mission to provide clinical training to primary care providers about the care and management of HIV/AIDS, the Northwest AETC receives funding to implement special projects that are targeted at addressing the needs of minority populations and addressing the specialty care needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS.

In 2000, funds became available through the Congressional Black Caucus to develop minority-specific programming within the AETC network. These funds are targeted to ethnic/racial minority community-based organizations to increase their capacity to provide HIV/AIDS training and/or to increase their capacity to provide HIV care. The Northwest AETC has developed projects in collaboration with several minority organizations in response to this initiative.

• Tribal BEAR Project
        - Salish Kootenai College
        - South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency
• Latino/Migrant Farm Worker Training Project
        - New Hope Clinic/Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic
• African American Training Project
        - African American Reach and Teach Health
        - Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center
• Alaska Native Training Project
        - Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

The Center for Palliative Care Education was developed and funded as a joint HRSA and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) project to improve the quality of care that patients with HIV/AIDS receive during the course of their illness and at the end of life. To accomplish this, the Center developed an educational resource center and training program to build regional AETC capacity to provide training on palliative care issues. The Center has compiled educational materials and curricula on topics in HIV/AIDS palliative care, conducted and analyzed regional and national AETC needs assessments to guide curriculum development activities, designed and pilot tested a multiple module curriculum, and established partnerships with the AETC NRC, the RWJF HIV Palliative Care Workgroup, the RWJF Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care Program, Last Acts, EPERC (End-of-Life Physician Education Resource Center), the Seattle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center and the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC). All materials developed are available to each regional AETC and to their local performance sites through the AETC National Resource Center.