Rural Project Examples Addressing Health workforce education and training

Thomas Jefferson University's Physician Shortage Area Program

Updated/reviewed September 2025

Need: More rural doctors were needed in multiple states. In Pennsylvania, nearly half of the state's physicians practice in just three large metropolitan counties.
Intervention: Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University established the Physician Shortage Area Program (PSAP) in 1974 to recruit and support students who are from rural backgrounds and who wish to practice in rural communities.
Results: Approximately 80% of PSAP alumni have remained in rural family medicine for at least 20 to 25 years after graduation.

Updated/reviewed January 2026

Need: Meeting the health needs of an expanding older adult population in rural Livingston County, New York.
Intervention: In 2006, a federal grant was leveraged to create the Help For Seniors program that focused on EMT training for performing in-field health needs assessments for older adults and the support for a case management staff to address those screening results.
Results: Based on over 1200 older adult evaluations and the training of nearly 200 EMTs, the project's results and capacity building became a foundation for continued similar county activities that are now supported by state funding.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: To provide psychotherapy to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Intervention: University of Wyoming psychology doctoral students provide psychotherapy via videoconferencing to crisis center clients in two rural locations.
Results: Clients, student therapists, and crisis center staff were satisfied with the quality of services, and clients reported reduced symptoms of depression and PTSD.

Updated/reviewed October 2024

Need: General surgeons are needed in rural communities.
Intervention: Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is sending residents to complete a general surgery rotation in rural southern Oregon.
Results: 19 graduates of the rural residency program are currently practicing in a rural setting. The residents remain more likely than other OHSU residents to enter general surgery practice and to serve in a community of fewer than 50,000 people.

Added October 2023

Need: To recruit and train medical students who are committed to choosing rural practice.
Intervention: An add-on curriculum that includes seminars, field trips, and clinical rotations in rural and underserved areas.
Results: 436 students have graduated from the RMED program between 1997 and 2023, with 65% of program graduates practicing in towns of less than 50,000 people.

Updated/reviewed September 2023

Need: Lack of healthcare providers, specifically physicians, in rural Missouri.
Intervention: Rising second-year medical students at University of Missouri's School of Medicine are given the opportunity to participate in a clinical program in a rural community setting.
Results: Almost half of the participants from 1996-2010 chose to practice in rural locations upon graduation.

Updated/reviewed April 2024

Need: To fill vacant medical positions in Maine's rural medical facilities.
Intervention: The Tufts Maine Track LIC program offers clerkships in rural medical facilities, exposing medical school students to the positives and possibilities that rural practices have to offer.
Results: The program has seen an increase in students' interest in practicing in rural Maine. The majority of participants have pursued medical careers in one of the six core specialties studied during their clerkship.

Updated/reviewed January 2026

Need: To provide rural Nevada EMS personnel an opportunity to receive quality training and current EMS information from national EMS educators.
Intervention: The Rural Nevada EMS Conference offers continuing education units and engaging sessions for EMS personnel.
Results: In 2025, 132 individuals attended the conference in-person.

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: Primary care physicians in the rural areas of Wisconsin.
Intervention: A GME collaborative and technical assistance center that provides leadership, GME expertise, and support for expanding rural graduate medical education in Wisconsin.
Results: The collaborative expanded rural graduate medical education opportunities which now include over 30 rural-focused residency programs. There are several GME opportunities in specialties ranging from family medicine to surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, internal medicine and more.

Updated/reviewed September 2025

Need: To support rural veterans pursuing a career in nursing.
Intervention: The INVITE program improved the curriculum and reworked admission requirements to better support veteran students' experiences in the College of St. Scholastica undergraduate nursing program.
Results: The number of veterans pursuing nursing has more than doubled since program implementation, and all students have reported an increased interest in serving rural communities.