Delaware Models and Innovations
These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.
Evidence-Based Examples
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.
Other Project Examples
Clinic for Special Children
Updated/reviewed August 2025
- Need: To provide healthcare for children and adults at-risk for genetic conditions from the rural, uninsured Amish and Mennonite communities in southern Pennsylvania.
- Intervention: A clinic that serves as a comprehensive medical practice for children and adults (primarily from the Amish and Mennonite communities) with rare, inherited, or complex disorders.
- Results: In 2024, about 1,700 active patients with more than 480 unique genetic mutations were treated at the Clinic for Special Children.