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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Recruitment and retention of health professionals

Physician and Advanced Practice Clinician Burnout in Rural and Urban Settings
Describes burnout and contributing work conditions among physicians and advanced practice clinicians, using data from an anonymous electronic survey conducted in March 2022. Explores the effect of COVID-19 on health workforce burnout, and features statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Author(s): Melissa L. Harry, Nancy L. Sudak, Mary J. Engels, et al.
Citation: The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 37(1), 43-58
Date: 01/2024
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Pennsylvania Hospital Workforce Survey
Examines Pennsylvania hospitals' efforts to recruit and retain talented workers, using data from a survey conducted in October and November 2023. Describes how care is evolving to support providers and patients, examines healthcare professional shortages, and offers strategies to eliminate violence against healthcare professionals. Features statistics on vacancy rates, with breakdown by rural areas.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania
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Needs Assessment of the Obstetric Workforce in Maine's Rural Hospitals
Report assessing the workforce needs for 15 hospitals with obstetrics units in rural Maine. Offers a SWOT Analysis and discusses factors contributing to sustainability of the workforce, community characteristics impacting the workforce, recruitment and retention challenges, and training challenges. Offers recommendations at the state, regional, health system, hospital, and unit level.
Author(s): Brianna Keefe-Oates, Katherine Simmonds, Louisa H. Smith, Jeni Stolow
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organizations: MaineHealth, Roux Institute, The Maine Rural Maternity & Obstetrics Management Strategies Network
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Closing the Gap: How a Community Effort Can Improve Rural Maternity Care
Case study of a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) that increased access to maternal healthcare in rural North Carolina by opening a maternity care center. Discusses recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals and collaboration among healthcare organizations in the community.
Author(s): Jesus Ruiz
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 22(1), 68
Date: 01/2024
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Informing the Surgical Workforce Pathway: How Rural Community Characteristics Matter
Explores rural and urban surgeons' perspectives on community characteristics, utilizing interview data from 22 rural and 15 urban general surgeons in the Midwest. Identifies rural-urban differences in approach to physical environment, health resources, and professional/personal community roles. Discusses implications for surgeons' practice location choices and surgical workforce education and recruitment.
Author(s): Dorothy Hughes, Joshua Mammen, Tomas L. Griebling, Joanna Veazey Brooks
Citation: Remote and Rural Health, 24(1), 8363
Date: 01/2024
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Graduate Medical Education Funding
Explores graduate medical education (GME), focusing on types of locations where it is offered and sources of funding available, including Medicare and Medicaid. Describes ways in which states are rethinking GME to better meet the needs of states and communities most impacted by physician workforce shortages, including rural areas. Includes a map with shadings showing levels of Medicare GME-funded residents by state.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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How Tribal Medical Education Programs Could Solve the Rural Health Care Crisis with Natasha Bray, DO
Highlights a partnership between The Cherokee Nation and the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine to address physician recruitment and retention in tribal communities. Discusses physician residencies, cultural competency, national physician shortages, and lessons learned. Transcript beneath podcast player.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association
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National Health Service Corps 2023 Report to Congress
Details program accomplishments of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), provides updates on Health Professional Shortage Area designations, explains recruitment efforts for NHSC Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs, provides estimates on number of patients seen by NHSC clinicians, and details short- and long-term retention rates. Features state-by-state data with breakdowns by urban and rural locations.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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How to Solve New Mexico's Health Care Worker Shortage
Proposes state-level policy and funding changes to address healthcare workforce shortages in New Mexico, covering topics including Medicaid reimbursement, financial incentives for education and practice, credentialing, workforce programs, and more. Highlights the needs of rural and tribal communities, including discussion of rural provider retention, workforce pipelines, the Rural Healthcare Tax Credit (RHTC), and state and federal cooperation with tribal nations.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Think New Mexico
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Indiana Health Workforce Summit: Behavioral & Mental Health
Provides an overview of the 2024 Indiana Health Workforce Summit that covered issues and strategies related to the Indiana healthcare workforce. Includes information on education, training, recruitment, and retention in the areas of behavioral, primary care, and rural health. Discusses health workforce needs for specific population groups.
Additional links: Primary Care: Adult & Geriatrics Brief, Primary Care: Maternal & Child Brief, Rural Health Brief
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organizations: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy, Indiana Department of Health, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
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