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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Project Examples: Health workforce

Other Project Examples

Added July 2024

  • Need: To increase the number of Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians (Advanced EMTs) in rural Idaho and neighboring states.
  • Intervention: An Advanced EMT class offered to students at five rural high schools, the first of its kind in the country.
  • Results: Two students graduated from the class in its first year, with at least two more expected to enroll in the 2024-25 school year.

Added July 2024

  • Need: To increase the future healthcare workforce in rural Minnesota.
  • Intervention: Montevideo Medical Academy helps students explore healthcare career options and gain college credit.
  • Results: So far, 25 students in the program have attained 170 college credits, 55 certifications, and 304 hours of clinical experience.

Updated/reviewed July 2024

  • Need: To increase access to healthcare and social services in rural South Carolina via library systems.
  • Intervention: Pilot sites are hiring social workers and community health workers to provide consultations, case management, and referrals.
  • Results: One library screens an average of 215 residents a month, and another library's programming reached over 800 female patrons.

Added July 2024

  • Need: To increase access to preventive dental care among children living in rural Arizona.
  • Intervention: A nonprofit organization formed to offer free, school-based preventive dental services to children in two rural Arizona counties.
  • Results: Throughout the 2023-24 school year, Tooth B.U.D.D.S. provided preventive services to 1,710 students in rural Graham and Greenlee Counties. Program staff use a telehealth platform to connect children to local dentists for follow-up care.
funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed June 2024

  • Need: Address oral health disparities in Washington's rural communities.
  • Intervention: The University of Washington School of Dentistry (UWSOD) developed the Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) program to increase the number of dentists prepared for the various languages and custom-specific attitudes concerning oral health in addition to the clinical competence required to practice in rural areas.
  • Results: Since its start in 2009 and as of 2024, nearly 100 dentists have completed the program with over 81% practicing in rural communities.

Updated/reviewed April 2024

  • Need: Strategies to recruit and retain providers to practice in rural settings.
  • Intervention: A traveling one-day workshop was designed to share ideas and firsthand accounts on successful strategies on how to create "Safe Sites" for new recruits.
  • Results: So far, workshops have trained over 250 hospital administrators, board members, and rural hospital recruiters.

Updated/reviewed February 2024

  • Need: To reduce farm injuries and improve EMS and fire/rescue's response to these injuries in rural Louisiana and Mississippi.
  • Intervention: AGRIMEDIC is a two-day training for first responders.
  • Results: 810 first responders have received training.

Added February 2024

  • Need: To provide a convenient and affordable lodging option for patients who have traveled from a distance to receive medical treatment in Bozeman, Montana.
  • Intervention: An RV parking program that lets anyone who is actively seeking care at Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center stay in the hospital parking lot.
  • Results: Throughout the summer of 2023, at least one patient was using an RV parking space at all times.

Updated/reviewed January 2024

  • Need: Hawai'i is experiencing a severe shortage of family medicine physicians.
  • Intervention: The Hawai'i Island Family Medicine Residency (HIFMR) program uses an interprofessional team-based approach so residents learn how to care for many types of patients in different healthcare settings.
  • Results: Since 2017, HIFMR has graduated a class of 3 to 6 Board-certified family medicine physicians annually. Most graduates have remained in the state to practice medicine; those who have left have entered fellowship programs and plan to return to Hawai'i Island to practice.

Added January 2024

  • Need: To create rural clinical placement and postgraduate fellowship opportunities for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students and recent Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) graduates in Washington.
  • Intervention: The Rural Nursing Health Initiative (RNHI), a program out of the University of Washington School of Nursing that created clinical placement opportunities for DNP students and a postgraduate fellowship program for ARNP graduates.
  • Results: Rural clinical stipends have been awarded to 80 DNP students, and 12 ARNPs completed rural fellowships between 2021 and 2023.

For examples from other sources, see: