Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Education and Training of the Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Education and Training of the Rural Healthcare Workforce.

Strengthening Primary Care and Oral Health Education and Training of Future and Current Health Professionals for Rural and Underserved Populations: Sixteenth 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 to strengthen primary care at a time of great challenge. Recommendations cover residency training in primary care and dentistry that provide direct care to rural and undeserved communities and improvements that would help to address primary care workforce issues and fall outside of Title VII programs.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry
view details
Special Needs in Rural America: Implications for Healthcare Workforce Education, Training, and Practice
Offers policy recommendations to strengthen rural health workforce training and improve access to healthcare in rural areas. Addresses the health and social needs of rural America through evidence-based health workforce investments in education, training, and practice. Examines disparities in health and access to care in rural areas, and mismatch in supply and demand.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Council on Graduate Medical Education
view details
Practicing Holistic Review in Medical Education
Issue brief that explores holistic review in medical school admissions and key issues related to diversifying and assessing medical school applicants and cohorts in order to expand the healthcare workforce in rural, minority, and underserved areas. Discusses the history and purpose of holistic review, which considers not only academic measures of potential success but also applicants' life experiences, socioeconomic background, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, and disability status, among other characteristics. Recaps informant interviews describing issues and lessons learned from medical school administrators, particularly related to applicant evaluation and emerging assessment methods.
Author(s): Tim Bates, Sunita Mutha, Janet Coffman
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Healthforce Center at UCSF
view details
Promising Practice: Getting More Nurses Working in Rural Montana
Highlights a collaboration between the Montana Office of Rural Health and Montana State University College of Nursing to train nurses to work in rural areas. Details the programs funded through two Health Resources and Services Administration grants: one offered online to train nurse practitioners from all over the state, and the other prepares BSN-level nurses to work in rural primary care.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
view details
Implementing Healthcare Career Pathway Training Programs in Rural Settings: Responsive Approaches by Tribal HPOG 2.0 Grantees
Examines opportunities and challenges in implementing healthcare education and training programs in rural and tribal communities. Describes how the Tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) 2.0 grantees used their communities' strengths in developing their programs. Highlights the use of partnerships, strategies for addressing geographic isolation and improving access, and methods for ensuring communication and engagement.
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Children and Families
view details
Targeted Medical School Admissions: A Strategic Process for Meeting Our Social Mission
Results of a 2018 survey of admissions personnel at allopathic and osteopathic medical schools about admissions strategies aimed at recruitment of students likely to practice in rural or urban underserved areas, or primary care. Features statistics on recruitment and selection activities of medical schools and characteristics of applicants, with breakdowns by rural, urban underserved, or primary care categories.
Author(s): David V. Evans, Andrew D. Jopson, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Randall L. Longenecker, Davis G. Patterson
Citation: Family Medicine, 52(7), 474-482
Date: 2020
Type: Document
view details
Compendium of Rural Oral Health Best Practices - 2020
Highlights examples of the best practices in rural oral healthcare across the country. Presents a number of models regarding workforce development and training, integration of care, telehealth, clinical care, and policy.
Date: 2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
view details
Health Care Workforce: Views on Expanding Medicare Graduate Medical Education Funding to Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
Describes the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) program. Provides an overview of current federal funding for physician, nurse practitioner (NP), and physician assistant (PA) training. Explores the potential benefits and challenges of expanding the Medicare GME program to include funding for graduate NP and PA training.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
RN-to-BSN Programs: Challenges for Rural Nurse Education
Results of a survey of 237 schools with active RN-to-BSN programs, to ascertain the current status of rural-focused nursing education. Features statistics on proportion of RN-to-BSN students drawn from rural areas, student recruitment methods, barriers to recruiting students, availability of online courses, and challenges in online courses.
Author(s): Selina H. McKinney, Janice C. Probst, Eboni Haynes
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
view details
Mayo Clinic Joins the National Effort to Train Tomorrow's Rural Surgeons
Describes challenges facing rural surgery, including workforce shortages, outlines the Mayo Clinic's development of a rural general surgery track, and identifies lessons learned in the first three years of the Mayo Clinic's program. Compares competencies required for rural surgeons and those in urban areas.
Author(s): Randy C. Lehman, Brandon G. Douglass, Stephanie F. Heller, Michael C. Roskos
Citation: Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, 104(10)
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
view details

Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:


Last Updated: 12/13/2024