Rural Project Examples Addressing Health workforce

Montevideo Medical Academy

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.

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.

Updated/reviewed January 2024

Need: Dual platform to teach both plain language use and health literacy principles to health professions students and disseminate health information to rural populations.
Intervention: Writing project using community-specific public health data in order to write a plain language health education article suitable for publication in a rural newspaper.
Results: Since program start in 2017, over 60 students have successfully published their plain language health education articles in 17 rural newspapers in 3 states.

Updated/reviewed November 2023

Need: Because of the benefits associated with early identification of conditions causing memory problems, Florida's rural populations will benefit from access to screening for possible Alzheimer's Disease and other types of dementia.
Intervention: A state university uses a state health department grant to develop a cognitive impairment screening program implemented by rural Community Health Workers. An additional grant provides rural medical practitioners with a free online continuing education module covering cognitive impairment and dementia.
Results: To date, over 400 individuals have completed health screenings and over 900 referrals have been made to community social and medical services. At grant cycle completion, formal analysis of cognitive screening and referral to medical services will be shared.