Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

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 2023
  • 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 2022, 214 people attended the in-person conference.
Hawai'i Island Family Medicine Residency
Updated/reviewed December 2022
  • Need: Hawai'i is experiencing a huge shortage of family medicine physicians.
  • Intervention: The Hawai'i Island Family Medicine Residency (HIFMR) program uses an interprofessional team-based approach so residents learn how to care for many types of patients in different healthcare settings.
  • Results: Since 2017, HIFMR has graduated a class of 3 to 6 Board-certified family medicine physicians annually. Most graduates have remained in the state to practice medicine; those who have left have entered fellowship programs and plan to return to Hawai'i Island to practice.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy FORWARD NM Pathways to Health Careers
Updated/reviewed November 2022
  • Need: New Mexico's southwestern counties of Hidalgo, Catron, Luna, and Grant have experienced chronic shortages of primary care providers. New Mexico has the oldest physician population in the country.
  • Intervention: A comprehensive workforce pipeline program, including programming for middle and high school students, undergraduate and graduate students, primary care program students, and medical and dental residents.
  • Results: The program reaches over 1,000 school-aged students throughout the service areas and provides support for students and medical residents in a variety of healthcare-related programs for rural rotation experiences. FORWARD NM received its designation as an Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in 2012.
Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural Graduate Medical Education
Updated/reviewed October 2022
  • Need: Primary care physicians in the rural areas of Wisconsin.
  • Intervention: A GME collaborative was created that provides leadership, technical assistance, and support for expanding rural graduate medical education in Wisconsin.
  • Results: The collaborative expanded rural graduate medical education opportunities which now include over 20 rural training programs. There are several residencies and fellowship opportunities in specialties ranging from family medicine to surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, and more.
Health Profession Rural Summer Immersion Program
Updated/reviewed June 2022
  • 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.
Rescue Divas EMT Recruitment
Updated/reviewed June 2022
  • Need: Increased number of emergency medical technicians in rural northern Wisconsin.
  • Intervention: Creation of a program, Rescue Divas, for middle school girls to spark interest in emergency medical services careers.
  • Results: Post-participation results demonstrate the camp increases interest in an emergency medical services career.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy funded by the Health Resources Services Administration Community Connections, Inc. Rural Health Opioid Program
Updated/reviewed December 2021
  • Need: To reduce deaths due to opioid overdose in rural southeast West Virginia.
  • Intervention: The Community Connections, Inc. Rural Health Opioid Program trained and certified first responders, healthcare staff, and laypeople in naloxone administration.
  • Results: From October 2018 to September 2021, the program provided direct education to 638 individuals, trained 821 providers, and distributed 4,023 Narcan kits.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy MaineGeneral Harm Reduction Program
Updated/reviewed December 2020
  • Need: To reduce deaths from opioid overdoses in rural Maine.
  • Intervention: The MaineGeneral Harm Reduction Program provides community education/training for healthcare staff, first responders, community agency staff, and community members in rural Kennebec and Somerset counties.
  • Results: MaineGeneral continues to train providers, provide stigma assessments, and distribute Narcan kits.
Minot-Williston Rural Training Track Program
Updated/reviewed October 2020
  • Need: Like many rural areas, parts of North Dakota lack primary care physicians to fulfill the needs of the community.
  • Intervention: The Minot-Williston Rural Track Program was developed to create new medical residency opportunities in rural North Dakota.
  • Results: Now over 1000 applicants are applying for the two residency slots.
Club Scrub
Updated/reviewed August 2020
  • Need: Rural Wisconsin communities experience threatened healthcare infrastructure due to workforce shortages.
  • Intervention: The Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, in partnership with the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, created a youth program to increase awareness of health-related professions known as Club Scrub.
  • Results: Middle-school students attend the program and gain a better understanding of career options in the healthcare industry.

Last Updated: 1/6/2023