This website is being reviewed for updates. Some information is offline. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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

Updated/reviewed April 2025

  • Need: To provide increased educational opportunities for emergency care personnel in rural and frontier South Dakota.
  • Intervention: A technologically advanced training was created to enhance the delivery of emergency patient care.
  • Results: Hundreds of emergency medical services (EMS) staff and volunteers received training that in turn helped them in the field of emergency patient care.
funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed April 2025

  • Need: There is a shortage of rural physicians in the Northwestern United States.
  • Intervention: University of Washington medical students are receiving training through the TRUST program in rural communities across a five-state radius.
  • Results: Long-lasting connections have been formed among regional communities, medical students, and rural health professionals, with the goal of producing more rural physicians.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

  • 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.

Updated/reviewed January 2025

  • 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 2024, 185 individuals attended the conference in-person.

Added December 2024

  • Need: To train the next generation of psychiatrists in a rural context, while providing psychiatric care to an underserved region of West Virginia.
  • Intervention: A new rural psychiatry residency program at Marshall University, in which residents split their time between the rural town of Point Pleasant and the larger city of Huntington.
  • Results: The program welcomed its first class of residents in July 2024.

Updated/reviewed August 2024

  • 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, 94% are still practicing in rural areas; 83% are still practicing in rural western North Carolina.

Added July 2024

  • Need: To increase the number of Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians (Advanced EMTs) in rural Idaho and neighboring states.
  • Intervention: An Advanced EMT class offered to students at five rural high schools, the first of its kind in the country.
  • Results: Two students graduated from the class in its first year, with at least two more expected to enroll in the 2024-25 school year.

Added July 2024

  • Need: To increase the future healthcare workforce in rural Minnesota.
  • Intervention: Montevideo Medical Academy helps students explore healthcare career options and gain college credit.
  • Results: So far, 25 students in the program have attained 170 college credits, 55 certifications, and 304 hours of clinical experience.
funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed June 2024

  • Need: Address oral health disparities in Washington's rural communities.
  • Intervention: The University of Washington School of Dentistry (UWSOD) developed the Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) program to increase the number of dentists prepared for the various languages and custom-specific attitudes concerning oral health in addition to the clinical competence required to practice in rural areas.
  • Results: Since its start in 2009 and as of 2024, nearly 100 dentists have completed the program with over 81% practicing in rural communities.

Updated/reviewed January 2024

  • Need: Hawai'i is experiencing a severe 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.
Last Reviewed: 12/9/2024