Education and Training of the Rural Healthcare Workforce – News
News stories from the past 60 days.
May 23, 2023 - Executives from Dartmouth Heath, MaineHealth, and The University of Vermont Health Network participated in a panel discussion about rural hospitals and their difficulties. Challenges include workforce shortages, hospital closures, housing costs, and the need for creative scheduling.
Source: Chief Healthcare Executive
May 11, 2023 - The U.S. Department of Labor announced the award of more than $78 million to help grant recipients improve diversity in the healthcare workforce and address the health equity gap in America's underserved communities by embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility strategies into their programs. By doing so, the programs will ensure people from historically marginalized and underrepresented communities have pathways to good jobs and careers in nursing.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
May 10, 2023 - Describes challenges with providing healthcare in rural locations with focus on workforce shortages. Notes that rural medical students are 5 times more likely to practice rural than urban students. A partnership between CentraCare and the University of Minnesota Medical School led to the creation of a rural campus for undergraduate and graduate medical education. Also discusses the need to attract rural residents into healthcare careers beginning in elementary school. 5% of medical school enrollees are rural and fewer than 0.5% of enrollees are rural students of color.
Source: West Central Tribune
Apr 28, 2023 - Describes a Minnesota residency program that increases the competency of rural sexual assault nurse examiners. The residency is housed at an urban Minnesota hospital where the volume of sexual assault victims is higher than in rural hospitals. Program participants are able to take the skills learned back to their rural communities. The program is a partnership with the University of Minnesota and is part of a three year grant covering participant costs, mentorship, and training. Training focuses on trauma-informed questioning.
Source: Star Tribune
Apr 26, 2023 - Describes the shortage of doctors in rural communities, noting that 99% of medical residency programs are in non-rural places and doctors are more likely to work where they trained. At West Virginia University, the rural medicine track recruits rural students and trains them in rural hospitals in an attempt to address shortages.
Source: PBS NewsHour
Apr 20, 2023 - A call for papers for BMC Medical Education. Submissions can include original research and case studies and should address rural health professions education, defined as "education, training, and development of healthcare workers in and/or for rural communities." Topics may include recruitment and retention, educational models and pathways, community engagement and/or culturally responsive training, collaboration, and more. Submission deadline is January 19, 2024.
Source: BMC Medical Education
Apr 11, 2023 - Chiropractors and chiropractic residents who are working, teaching, and training at the Fort Dodge Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Iowa are providing access to more interprofessional care for rural veterans while training future health professionals.
Source: VA News
Apr 11, 2023 - Highlights the closure of a residency training program in rural northeastern Nevada, and describes common barriers to establishing and sustaining training programs for doctors throughout rural America.
Source: Kaiser Health News
Apr 10, 2023 - The University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health has three new programs that will impact future healthcare workers in the Appalachian mountains. The programs are the Appalachian Center for Assistive Technology, the Kentucky Homeplace Community Health Worker Training Center, and the Systems Integrated Modeling and Simulation Lab.
Source: WYMT
Apr 5, 2023 - A severe shortage of pediatric psychiatrists in Hawaii, combined with growing demand for mental health services, has made many Hawaii families desperate to find whatever help they can get. Efforts are underway to ease some of the strain by getting more people trained as mental health providers, including master's-level community therapists, advanced nurse practitioners, and psychiatrists.
Source: Honolulu Civil Beat
Apr 5, 2023 - The University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation is planning to offer undergraduate and graduate rural health certification programs by spring 2024 to prepare students for challenges unique to health care professionals in rural areas. Classes are expected to cover rural health issues, policies, barriers, and solutions.
Source: The Shorthorn
Mar 31, 2023 - The Department of Health and Human Services awarded nearly $23 million to 46 grantees to plan and develop Teaching Health Center residency programs. These programs prioritize training residents in community-based outpatient settings, such as Federally Qualified Health Centers or community mental health centers, which primarily serve people in rural and high-need areas.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Mar 31, 2023 - The University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health will launch ELEVATE CHWs, a new program to increase the number of community health workers in Kentucky by providing training for new CHWs and offering additional training for existing ones. The center received nearly $2.6 million in grant funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Source: University of Kentucky News
Last Updated: 5/23/2023