Education and Training of the Rural Healthcare Workforce – Models and Innovations

These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas and provide lessons others have learned. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.

Other Project Examples

Rural Nevada EMS Conference

Updated/reviewed January 2024

• Need: To provide rural Nevada EMS personnel an opportunity to receive quality training and current EMS information from national EMS educators.
• Intervention: The Rural Nevada EMS Conference offers continuing education units and engaging sessions for EMS personnel.
• Results: In 2023, 185 individuals attended the conference in-person.

Targeted Rural Health Education Project

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.

University of Minnesota Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Rural Rotation

Added December 2023

• Need: To address shortages of nurse practitioners and mental health professionals in rural Minnesota.
• Intervention: The University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Nursing implemented a 40-hour rural rotation for students in the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program.
• Results: 29 students completed rural rotations in communities across the state; several students voiced a new openness to practicing in a rural area after participating in the program.

Old Dominion University's Student-Run Mobile Health Clinic

Added November 2023

• Need: To fill gaps in care for rural communities in southeastern Virginia while providing clinical placement opportunities for nursing students.
• Intervention: A free mobile health clinic staffed by Old Dominion University nursing students that visits rural schools and other community centers.
• Results: Hundreds of students have gained hands-on rural experience working in the clinic since its launch.

EMS Live@Nite

Updated/reviewed September 2023

• Need: Distance, time, and cost make it difficult for EMS volunteers to attend continuing education and maintain certification.
• Intervention: Providence Health Training delivers free online training to rural EMS providers via video teleconferencing.
• Results: The EMS Live@Nite program provides free, monthly training to rural EMS providers in the northwestern part of the United States. The program is available through live video conferencing from certified locations in rural communities.

Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Rural Fellowship

Added August 2023

• Need: To increase recruitment and retention of health professionals in rural western North Carolina.
• Intervention: The Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Rural Fellowship offers mentorship, education, research support, and community-building opportunities for local providers in their first year of practice.
• Results: Of the 30 fellows who have completed the program since 2017, 97% are still practicing in rural areas; 87% are still practicing in rural western North Carolina.

Rural Experiences for Health Professions Students (REHPS)

Updated/reviewed July 2023

• Need: An ongoing shortage of healthcare providers in rural areas of South Dakota
• Intervention: A 4-week summer program placing health professions students in rural communities.
• Results: Of graduating participants, 71% practice in South Dakota with 30% of those graduates practicing in rural communities with populations fewer than 10,000, or veteran facilities.

Health Profession Rural Summer Immersion Program

Updated/reviewed June 2023

• Need: To expose medical and physician assistant students to rural healthcare practices and a rural lifestyle.
• Intervention: A two-week immersion program for second-year students to experience rural healthcare and rural life in Connecticut and New York.
• Results: In post-program evaluations from 2016 to 2018, 50% of students reported being very likely to practice in a rural setting, compared to just over 10% of students before the program.

Structured Training for Rural Enhancement of Community Health in Obstetrics (STRETCH-OB)

Added June 2023

• Need: To improve maternal and birth outcomes in rural and underserved areas by increasing the number of family medicine physicians in these areas who have high-quality, evidence-based obstetrical care skills.
• Intervention: The STRETCH-OB program trains a select number of family medicine residents at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford each year to provide high-quality maternity care, including surgical obstetrical care.
• Results: The first two STRETCH-OB residents graduated in June 2023.

Project PROMISE

Updated/reviewed April 2023

• Need: An increased interest among young people to pursue a medical career in rural North Carolina
• Intervention: Two medical students started a program that gives high school seniors medical academic training, mentor relationships, and hands-on experience in rural North Carolina facilities.
• Results: Project PROMISE has graduated 36 high school students, 16 of whom are pursuing an undergraduate degree with an interest in studying medicine. Two students were recently accepted into medical school.

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