Education and Training of the Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Education and Training of the Rural Healthcare Workforce.
Graduate Medical Education Funding
Explores graduate medical education (GME), focusing on types of locations where it is offered and sources of funding available, including Medicare and Medicaid. Describes ways in which states are rethinking GME to better meet the needs of states and communities most impacted by physician workforce shortages, including rural areas. Includes a map with shadings showing levels of Medicare GME-funded residents by state.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
view details
Explores graduate medical education (GME), focusing on types of locations where it is offered and sources of funding available, including Medicare and Medicaid. Describes ways in which states are rethinking GME to better meet the needs of states and communities most impacted by physician workforce shortages, including rural areas. Includes a map with shadings showing levels of Medicare GME-funded residents by state.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
view details
Rural Residency Planning and Development Program Profiles
Profiles an overview of each rural graduate medical education (GME) program in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program. Includes information on each program's sponsoring institution, start date, class size, specialty, time spent training in rural locations, demographics of each rural practice site, and more.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: RuralGME.org
view details
Profiles an overview of each rural graduate medical education (GME) program in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program. Includes information on each program's sponsoring institution, start date, class size, specialty, time spent training in rural locations, demographics of each rural practice site, and more.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: RuralGME.org
view details
Addressing the National Rural Health Care Worker Shortage with A Focus on Kindergarten Through 12th Grade Educational Strategies
Policy position paper regarding addressing rural healthcare workforce shortages through K-12 pipeline programs. Discusses educational, programmatic, and financial challenges to engaging K-12 students and implementing pipeline programs. Offers policy recommendations for the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote student preparedness and interest in health careers.
Author(s): Nicole Thill, Michelle Fortune, Abigail Radcliffe
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
view details
Policy position paper regarding addressing rural healthcare workforce shortages through K-12 pipeline programs. Discusses educational, programmatic, and financial challenges to engaging K-12 students and implementing pipeline programs. Offers policy recommendations for the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote student preparedness and interest in health careers.
Author(s): Nicole Thill, Michelle Fortune, Abigail Radcliffe
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
view details
Supporting Health Care Teams for Today and Pathways for Tomorrow: Twenty-Second Annual Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress
Offers policy recommendations regarding activities related to healthcare workforce education and training. Recommendations cover three programmatic areas - behavioral health workforce, geriatrics, and Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) - and are related to engaging potential trainees across the life course, recognizing and training caregivers as workforce participants, revising financial support to critical programs for recruitment and retention, and updating policy terms to better address challenges.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
view details
Offers policy recommendations regarding activities related to healthcare workforce education and training. Recommendations cover three programmatic areas - behavioral health workforce, geriatrics, and Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) - and are related to engaging potential trainees across the life course, recognizing and training caregivers as workforce participants, revising financial support to critical programs for recruitment and retention, and updating policy terms to better address challenges.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
view details
Prioritizing Primary Care: Twenty-first Annual Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress
Offers policy and program development recommendations to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress regarding primary care training and education. Reviews the historical development of accelerated pathway programs for clinicians, physician assistants, and dentists, and program outcomes. Explores challenges related to securing an adequate number of clinical training sites, as well as recommendations to address this shortage. Outlines recommendations to support the training of more primary care clinicians who practice in underserved communities.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry
view details
Offers policy and program development recommendations to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress regarding primary care training and education. Reviews the historical development of accelerated pathway programs for clinicians, physician assistants, and dentists, and program outcomes. Explores challenges related to securing an adequate number of clinical training sites, as well as recommendations to address this shortage. Outlines recommendations to support the training of more primary care clinicians who practice in underserved communities.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry
view details
Nursing Students Bring Free Care to Rural Virginia with Student-Run Mobile Health Clinic
Features Old Dominion University's mobile health clinic, which provides healthcare services in rural southeastern Virginia while providing clinical opportunities to nursing students.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Features Old Dominion University's mobile health clinic, which provides healthcare services in rural southeastern Virginia while providing clinical opportunities to nursing students.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
How Academic Medicine Serves Rural Communities Across the Country
Highlights how Association of American Medical Colleges teaching hospitals and medical schools are serving patients in rural communities. Features the work of 6 institutions in North Dakota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, George, Texas, and California, and shares the challenges and successes unique to these communities.
Date: 08/2023
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
view details
Highlights how Association of American Medical Colleges teaching hospitals and medical schools are serving patients in rural communities. Features the work of 6 institutions in North Dakota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, George, Texas, and California, and shares the challenges and successes unique to these communities.
Date: 08/2023
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
view details
RPHWTN Grantees Help Rural Healthcare Facilities Keep Local Talent
Highlights the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network and its focus on expanding workforce capacity in rural and tribal areas. Features a career ladder program in Missouri, a respiratory therapy training program in Texas, and a health IT training program in Virginia.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Highlights the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network and its focus on expanding workforce capacity in rural and tribal areas. Features a career ladder program in Missouri, a respiratory therapy training program in Texas, and a health IT training program in Virginia.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Expanded Medical Training Could Help Hospitals in Rural, Underserved Areas
Describes actions taken by states to ensure adequate access to clinical training for medical graduates and address physician shortages in rural and underserved areas. Covers statewide collaboration and appropriations, Medicaid payments, and incentives for rural clinical training.
Author(s): Rachel Woolworth
Date: 07/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
view details
Describes actions taken by states to ensure adequate access to clinical training for medical graduates and address physician shortages in rural and underserved areas. Covers statewide collaboration and appropriations, Medicaid payments, and incentives for rural clinical training.
Author(s): Rachel Woolworth
Date: 07/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
view details
Promoting Health Literacy through Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS)
Recording of a June 8, 2023, conference session on health literacy and culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) as part of the 2023 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Equity Conference. Features a presentation from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences on the Targeted Rural Health Education Project, in which health sciences students write newspaper articles on medical topics of importance to the rural communities they serve. Transcript available in the video description.
Additional links: Kay Miller Temple and David Schmitz, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences - Presentation Slides
Date: 06/2023
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
view details
Recording of a June 8, 2023, conference session on health literacy and culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) as part of the 2023 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Equity Conference. Features a presentation from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences on the Targeted Rural Health Education Project, in which health sciences students write newspaper articles on medical topics of importance to the rural communities they serve. Transcript available in the video description.
Additional links: Kay Miller Temple and David Schmitz, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences - Presentation Slides
Date: 06/2023
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
view details
Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:
Last Updated: 2/19/2026

