Rural Project Examples Addressing Health workforce education and training

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 March 2026

Need: The results of a 2013 county need assessment revealed that increased healthcare access would benefit the low resource areas of rural Hardin County, Ohio.
Intervention: With grant awards that included a 2015-2018 federal grant and in collaboration with local healthcare delivery systems, a rurally-located university pharmacy program's faculty and doctoral learners brought regularly scheduled pharmacist-led mobile clinic health services — ONU HealthWise Mobile Clinic — to the low resource areas of Hardin County, Ohio.
Results: In the decade since the original grant award, pharmacist-led mobile healthcare services' continued success has led to an expanded operation with a dual focus of providing both rural healthcare services and a setting to train rural practice-ready pharmacists. Additionally, interprofessional experiences for other healthcare profession learners have been added. In 2025, state-granted financial support allowed growth to include the purchase of a second vehicle expanding community pharmacy and telehealth services in surrounding rural counties.

Added March 2026

Need: To strengthen and grow capacity for the community health worker (CHW) workforce in rural Arizona.
Intervention: RAzCHOW is building rural workforce infrastructure through a coordinated network model that strengthens CHWs and the organizations that employ them.
Results: RAzCHOW has reported increased network capacity, trainings for CHWs, utilization of CHW services, and integration into healthcare teams and care coordination.

Added February 2026

Need: To improve the recruitment and retention of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in rural northern California.
Intervention: A community of practice and grant program for advanced practice providers sponsored by the California Health Care Foundation and Partnership HealthPlan of California.
Results: Five rural clinics and one clinic network have joined the program and hosted fellows.

Rural Project Examples: Health workforce education and training