Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Healthcare Workforce.

Where Are They? Examining General Surgery Workforce Issues
Describes challenges related to getting adequate data on the rural surgical workforce and what is needed to understand rural shortages.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Date: 06/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
The Rural General Surgeon's Partner: Rural Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
Describes the role that certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) play in rural surgery.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Comprehensive Rural Population Health: Where is the General Surgeon?
Provides an overview of the role that general surgeons play, discusses the importance of surgical access, and describes efforts underway to attract students into the field and to train the rural surgical workforce.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
PAs in Rural Locations Ready to Meet Primary Care Needs
Describes characteristics of physician assistants (PAs) working in rural areas, based on data collected from 9,140 PAs for the 2018 American Academy of PAs Salary Survey. Features statistics with breakdowns by rural or urban location and by various medical specialties.
Author(s): Noel Smith
Date: 06/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of PAs
view details
Behavioral Health Integration and Workforce Development
Examines the need for states to assess behavioral health integration (BHI) workforce needs, identify legal and policy barriers to practice, and effectively train and retain BHI practitioners, especially in underserved areas. Includes case studies of programs in Washington, Nebraska, and Michigan, and lists of resources.
Author(s): Rachel Block
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
view details
The Health Care Workforce: Addressing Shortages and Improving Care
Testimony in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions on May 22, 2018. Examines the growing problem of healthcare shortages in rural areas and the response by the federal government. Also explores how well healthcare professionals are being trained and why they choose the geographical areas where they work. Focuses on shortages of physicians, nurses, and professionals specializing in care of older adults.
Additional links: Testimony by Elizabeth A. Phelan, Testimony by Julie Tanner Sanford, Testimony by Kristen H. Goodell
Author(s): Kristen Goodell, Julie Sanford, Elizabeth Phelan
Date: 05/2018
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
view details
Shortage of Rural Surgeons: How Bad Is It?
Features information on supply and demand in the rural surgery workforce, including reasons for current and expected shortages or maldistribution of surgeons. Explains the difficulties in interpreting available data, and offers ideas for accurately assessing surgical needs in rural areas.
Author(s): Mark W. Puls
Citation: Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, 103(4), 52-55
Date: 04/2018
Type: Document
view details
Physician Assistants: Modernize Laws to Improve Rural Access
National Rural Health Association policy paper describing benefits to rural communities when practice barriers are removed and payments are sufficient to attract physician assistants to the area. Includes recommendations to help achieve this goal.
Author(s): Roger Wells, Megan Cody, Robert Alpino, Melissa Van Dyne, Ross Abbott, et al.
Date: 04/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
view details
Promising Practice: Minnesota Program Aims to Help Immigrant Physicians Practice in the State
Describes the collaboration between the Minnesota Department of Health's Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (ORHPC) and the IMG Assistance Program – a nonprofit organization, and their partnership with the University of Minnesota to prepare and integrate international medical graduates (IMGs) into the physician workforce to address provider shortages in the state.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 02/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
view details
Rural Family Physicians in Patient Centered Medical Homes Have a Broader Scope of Practice
Results of a study to determine whether rural family physicians in Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) practices have a broader scope of practice than those in non-PCMH practices. Features statistics including physician characteristics and scope of clinical services, with breakdowns by PCMH and non-PCMH and by large rural, small rural, and frontier areas.
Author(s): Lars E. Peterson, Bo Fang
Date: 02/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
view details

Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:


Last Updated: 3/18/2024