offers information about the AHEC program and itsimportance in developing and maintaining the rural healthcare workforce. Why is interprofessional education important for future rural healthcare professionals? The goal of interprofessional education (IPE) is to prepare students to practice team-based care aftergraduation。
medical students completing rural rotations were three times more likely to practice in a ruralcommunity compared with the national average…Students in self-report studies felt that their skillssignificantly increased in areas such as chronic disease management and ability to handle acute problems。
so that they can guide studentstoward courses and activities that will be most beneficial. The 2023 document HealthcareTraining Programs in Community Colleges: A Landscape Analysis of Program Availability and StudentCompletions includes a table showing distribution of selected healthcare programs across communitycollege locations as of 2019-2020。
RuralGME.org， visit: Do rural health rotations and curricula increase the likelihood that trainees will practice in ruralareas? According to FamilyMedicine Residencies: How Rural Training Exposure in GME Is Associated With Subsequent Rural Practice， examined threecomprehensive medical school rural tracks， and volunteer or work experience. Applicants meetingthese criteria are likely to be from a background of high socioeconomic status. In 2025 75% of studentsentering medical school in the United States had parental incomes of over $100，offering technical assistance to forming new programs. HRSA provides start-up funding awards of up to $750， focusing on primary care Improving quality of care by promoting interprofessional education and collaboration Facilitating programs and continuing education resources for health professionals in rural and underservedareas Conducting pipeline activities to expose pre-college students to health careers Rural Reflections ofAppalachia: A Qualitative Study of Health Professional Students' Experiences from a Rural ImmersionExperience in West Virginia offers information from 62 students who participated in the West VirginiaAHEC Scholars Rural Immersion Program in 2019-2021. Students reported that the experience gave them insightsinto rural practice that they would not have had through a traditional curriculum。
including part-task trainersfor learning highly specific procedural skills。
or other terms) givestudents exposure to the broad scope of practice rural physicians experience. This can fuel students' interestin residency and a career in a rural area. For other students。
as of 2026 there aremore than 300 AHEC program offices and centers serving 85% of counties in the United States. The AHEC Scholars program is open to studentsenrolled in a wide range of healthcare and pre-healthcare certificate or degree programs. The instructionsupplements students' existing training programs，000， and leadership training. Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a widelyused online training program which was initially developed to provide increased capacity for chronic diseasemanagement. It uses videoconferencing to connect primary care providers with specialists who can assist withpatient treatment and increase the knowledge base of participants. Telehealth Models for PromotingWorkforce Education and Training， an article fromthe May 2023 issue of Health Services Research。
and costs. Online and telehealthtraining programs canprovideaccessible training for current and future healthcare professionals. These programs may provide degree programs， including apprenticeships Healthcare workers employed by facilities offering career ladder programs can grow professionally and preparefor jobs with a higher level of responsibility while retaining their current positions. By providing a rewardsystem for employees who have shown potential to learn new skills and develop new competencies， coverage in staffing。
and can be found in all regions of the country. Rural Health Information Technology WorkforceCurriculum Resourcesoffers a complete inventory of curriculum resources，reducing workforce shortages. Frequently Asked Questions: How can grow-your-own programs improve the future health workforce available in ruralareas? Grow-your-own programs help to address the shortage of healthcare workers in rural areas. They focus onencouraging individuals to consider choosing healthcare careers， and Implications， a 2010 publication from EDUCAUSE。
which provide a hybrid of training in urban and rural areas Rurally-located residency programs Urban-located programs with rurally-located training sites Urban-located programs with rural focus Some rural residency programs offer opportunities for students to complete residencies in community clinics andcommunity hospitals. The Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) model， including course descriptions and training materials， as a part of nurse training. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality document Health CareSimulation to Advance Safety examines approaches and uses of simulation， the process ofperforming specific tasks repeatedly with immediate feedback， a commitment to serve rural areas。
coordinated care in rural areas， a component of the Rural TelehealthToolkit，。
000to help support the initial investment associated with launching a residency program. Our Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program overview pagefeatures examples of RRPD-funded residency programs and links to additional information. For more on the impactof the RRPD program。
simulation is especially useful in rural areas. The 2018 article EvaluatingCompetence and Confidence Using Simulation Technology discusses ways in which simulation training innursing education helps reduce errors. It also explores the effectiveness of deliberate practice， scrubs camps provide students the opportunity to meet and interact with a variety ofhealthcare professionals and engage in healthcare-related activities. These camps increase interest， including: Lower cost of living Opportunities to enjoy nature Less pollution Slower pace of life Feeling of connectedness to community Rural rotations are also available for other health professions， and examines their reasons for choosing rural practice， targetedadmissions processes into healthcare professions training can also be a key factor in recruiting and traininggraduates more likely to return to their home communities or similar rural areas. Career awareness and exploration programs provide an effective way for community organizationsto work together， and tribal areas. TrainingRural to Serve Rural: Baccalaureate-MD Programs and Their Rural Results highlights Marshall University's7-year BS/MD program in West Virginia and the University of New Mexico's BA/MD program. 'A Life-ChangingPartnership': First Tribally-Affiliated Medical School in the U.S. Builds Workforce Pipeline to RuralCommunities looks at the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the CherokeeNation， the Council onGraduate Medical Education (COGME) urged medical schools to admit more students from underserved areas. The report suggests that states should provide incentives for medical schools to develop specialadmissions tracks for rural students. A 2016 article， ifthose doctors are not inclined to practice in rural communities， advanced practiceproviders， Challenges and Best Practices for Implementing RurallyTargeted Admissions in U.S. Medical Schools， students in West Virginia University's School ofPharmacy must complete a 5-week-longAdvancedPharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) rotation in a rural area of West Virginia， including rural locations. The authorsnote that the majority of two-year colleges offer nursing programs as well as various allied health certificatesand degrees， HRSA hasestablished a technical assistance center to support THCGMEprogram awardees. In addition to family medicine residencies， 64.8% of U.S. medical schools provided students with ruralclinical experiences， including programs for: Nursing Medical assistants Paramedics Respiratory therapists Health information/medical records technicians Dental assistants and hygienists Surgical technologists Physical therapist assistants Career counselors at community colleges should keep abreast of employment trends， according to the 2025 AAMC Matriculating Student Questionnaire.Applicants from urban areas typically have more opportunities to pursueactivities that will make them seem "well-rounded" to admissions committee members. Medical school admissions committees that include faculty members who themselves have rural backgrounds may bemore inclined to look favorably on rural applicants with characteristics such as resilience and work ethic. A2020 article from the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved， it helps them realize that they are better suitedto an urban environment， see: How are online and telehealth training being used to prepare the rural healthcare workforce? Rural healthcare workers are often reluctant to leave their homes or place of employment for training andeducation due to travel challenges， and adesire to enter a primary care discipline Many programs offer scholarships for rural track participants Most rural tracks rely on funding from sources other than their medical school According to the 2021 Journal of Rural Health article Pipelines to Pathways: Medical SchoolCommitment to Producing a Rural Workforce， and reserved class slots. By using the traditional admissions criteria。
and virtual reality。
and have hadexperiences that expose them to and prepare them for rural practice and supporting healthcare services in arural context. Strategies， particularly if allmembers of the care team are not in the same location. Rural student IPE experiences often involve a rotation in a rural underserved area to learn how differentprofessions work together. Students interact with healthcare professionals。
including rural interprofessional education experiences Residency programs and fellowships specifically designed to train physicians and nurse practitioners forrural practice Continuing and professional educational opportunities for rural health professionals Technology to Educate the Rural Health Workforce Simulation Distance learning Telehealth applications for learning Investing in rural healthcare education can facilitate recruitment and retention efforts in rural areas，particularly in nursing and allied health fields. These schools offer degrees and certifications in avariety of healthcare occupations， an article in American Family Physician， such as pharmacy， and other healthcare professionals are well-educated， partner with healthcare facilities and schools， and activities used to educate and train the rural health workforce may include: Grow-Your-Own and Career Ladder Programs Programs like job shadowing， and caused them to have abetter understanding of their future role as healthcare providers in rural areas. The National AHEC Organization (NAO) provides a directory of AHECs. According to the NAO website， GraduateMedical Education for Rural Practice. For more information about rural residency programs， such asemergency procedures and irreversible procedures such as surgery. Since rural healthcare professionalstypically see fewer high acuity events， training in cultural awareness and respect， which is important to know before committing to rural practice. Examples include: MedicalSchool Rural Tracks in the US identified the following key points about rural tracks: Selection criteria for the programs often include rural background， reports thatsimulation technology is most often used to practice low-frequency events that require high acuity， Growing the Rural Physician Workforce: Decades of FederalFunding Impacts Rural Graduate Medical Education. Many states also offer grant programs to support theplanning and development of new residency programs， maldistribution occurs which ultimately resultsin poorer healthcare access for rural Americans. Characteristics important for rural practice are addressed in Competence Revisited ina Rural Context and include: Adaptability Living with scarcity and limits Resilience Integrity Reflective practice Collaboration In its 2007 EighteenthReport: New Paradigms for Physician Training for Improving Access to Health Care，which includes professionals living and working in rural communities and distant providers who provide servicesor support through telehealth and referral services. This involves ensuring that physicians。
including volunteersrole-playing patients， learning about buildingrelationships and teamwork. Improving the Health of RuralCommunities Through AcademicCommunity Partnerships and Interprofessional Health Care and TrainingModels offers 3 examples of rural interprofessional education and successful practice models. Theauthors note that these team-based models of care and education have the greatest impact when they are designedfor a specific patient population and have measurable outcomes. For further information on the impact of rural IPE programs， medical school admissions committees in the United States have historically given preference tothe "best of the best" applicants in terms of academics those with the highest grades andMedical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores as well as awell-rounded background in extracurricular activities，continuing education classes。
practice suture pads， fosteringmentorship， including those at EastCarolina University and Virginia Commonwealth University， improvements in technology haveadvanced the capabilities of the simulation tools available to students. Simulation Technologies inHigher Education: Uses， which produced six times the national average for graduatespracticing in rural areas. TheImpact of Rural Training Experiences on Medical Students: A Critical Review， schools must consider factors that aregood indicators of future rural practice. This might be at odds with the traditional tendency of educationalprograms to recruit the students deemed most elite by traditional criteria. For instance， but only 21.4% of these schools did so as part of a formal rural program. Residency Programs RuralTrack Programs (RTPs) and other residency program models involving time spent in rural areas providegraduate medical education to prepare resident physicians for careers in rural family medicine. Programs alsoexist for rural-relevant specialties， which is important to ensure patient-centered， a November 2023 article published in the same journal， and certification requirements for healthcare professions，and preferential scoring for rural candidates in interview screening or final admissions determination. Dental school admissions committees have also come to recognize the significance of rural background as apredictor of rural practice. Training a RuralOral Health Workforce: Effects of Rural Background on Dentist Practice Choice， and scrubs camps，allows residents to receive clinical training in health centers that provide community-based ambulatory care. Inthis way， they can learn to provide care for patients in underserved areas. Similar to the RRPD， an immersivecomputer-generated environment that simulates physical presence in real-world spaces. Examples of simulation technology used in rural areas include: What role can community colleges play in healthcare workforce education in rural areas? Community colleges play an important role in educating students who plan to work in healthcare。
includingapprenticeships Education and Training Provided in Rural Areas Nursing and allied health education at rural community colleges Rural rotations or curricula。
underserved， aJanuary 2026 Exploring Rural Health podcast episode， andobstetrics. Shortages in the rural primary care workforce are a serious concern that residencies with a ruralfocus are designed to alleviate. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funds formation of rurally-located residency programsunder the Rural ResidencyPlanning and Development Program (RRPD)， dentistry。
and dental and dentalhygiene students have 6- to 8-week-longrotations through collaborationwith private practice dentists across the state. Other examples of successful rural rotations that prepare students for rural practice include: The Rural Medical Training Collaborative offers a free tool for determining community capacity for physicianresidency education. See TREES (Training andRural health professions Education that is community Engaged and Sustainable). RuralGME.org's RuralResidency Programs and Rural Rotation Sites webpage offers a map showing locations of programs that haveat least one Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) funded rural rotation site and programs with themajority ofresident training time at FORHP sites. Two Rural Monitor articles examine academic programs that actively recruit students from rural， increase productivity， notes that there is a strong association between both rural upbringing andrural training and established dental practice in a rural area. The 2016 article Do Dentists from Rural Areas Practice inRural Areas? notes that some dental schools， notes that this advice may have been followed: As of thatwriting， healthcaresystems reduce employee turnover， full-body mannequins， dentists， well-trained。
notes that family physicians who grew up in a ruralcommunity were more likely to choose rural practice than those from an urban area， medical schools can produce excellent physicians. However， offers examples of ways in which distance learning can be used for provider training. How is simulation technology used to educate rural healthcare providers? Various forms of simulation have been a part of healthcare education for many years，and understanding of health careers available in rural areas among elementary through high school students. Other career awareness and exploration activities that healthcare facilities or schools might undertake include: How do career ladder programs benefit rural healthcare workers and healthcare facilities? Career ladder programs are sponsored by healthcare facilities to help employees advance theireducation by developing higher-level skills. These programs tend to increaseemployee satisfaction， a 2024 article from theJournal of Dental Education。
and promote staffversatility. Where can I find information on medical school rural programs and rural residency programs?Medical School Rural Programs Many medical schools offer programs that provide rural training experiences to students who are consideringpractice in rural areas. Rural programs (also called tracks， cultivating their interest。
awareness， pediatrics， begun in 2011， 84% ofU.S. medical schools either already had or were planning to implement policies to recruit students who intend topractice in underserved areas. Some medical schools with a rural mission or a rural track do use criteria related to rural interest. MedicalSchool Rural Tracks in the US identifies characteristics sought for rural track applicants: Rural interest or background (39 programs cited) Rural commitment (23 programs) Community involvement (20 programs) Primary care commitment (18 programs) Character (18 programs) Resident of state/area (15 programs) Targeted Medical SchoolAdmissions: A Strategic Process for Meeting Our Social Mission identifies selection strategies used bymedical schools that target rural students for admissions. Commonly used strategies include using secondaryapplication questions。
withthe largest gain in understanding health systems and the community during their rotation in a rural primarycareclinic. Authors of Recruiting Rural HealthProviders Today: A Systematic Review of Training Program Success and Determinants of Geographic Choicesexamined 55 studies exploring the impact of medical training programs and found that "Growing up in arural community is a key determinant and is consistently associated with choosing rural practice." Growing a Rural Family PhysicianWorkforce: The Contributions of Rural Background and Rural Place of Residency Training， it is a long-term strategy that moves people into the health workforce pathway and enables ruralcommunities to more effectively address their future healthcare workforce needs. Parental involvement can be key in sparking young people's interest in healthcare careers. Regionally， including the needs of localhealthcare employers。
see the National Rural Health Association Policy Brief， there are some rurally-oriented general surgery， psychiatry， internal medicine， focusing on primary and preventive care. AHECs act as liaisons between communities andacademic institutions and assist in arranging training opportunities for health professions students， helping offset start‑up costs and strengthen trainingcapacity in underserved areas. The 2023 Health Services Research article Growing a Rural Family PhysicianWorkforce: The Contributions of Rural Background and Rural Place of Residency Training used data fromthe RTT Collaborative rural residency list and found that about half of rural residency trainees chose ruralpractice， improve worker satisfaction， modified MCAT andGPA cutoffs， and rural and rural residencytraining was an even stronger predictor of rural practice. The 2011 Academic Emergency Medicine article Availability and PotentialEffect of Rural Rotations in Emergency Medicine Residency Programs describes the types of ruralrotations in emergency medicine residency programs and the correlation with rural practice after graduation.Emergency medicine residency graduates were more likely to select a rural job if rural rotations were required.Defining the Clinical and Procedural Opportunities Availableto Residents during Rural Rotations， youth apprenticeship， offering targeted financial aid， concentrations， and must take place in rural or underserved areas. Each cohortlasts two years and ends in completion of a certificate. AHECs are funded through the HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce. They also use other funding streams to match theirfederal funds and operate additional programs. Successful programs include: AHECs and Their Role in Sustaining the Rural Healthcare Workforce， that introduce ruralstudents to health careers Healthcare facility programs that help employees advance their education and careers， noted thatresidents who participated in rural emergency medicine rotations were exposed to some clinical and proceduralexperiences at a higher rate in rural hospitals than in an urban academic hospital. The National Rural Health Association article A Reasonto Care: How Students Choose Rural Health profiles several medical students who have completed ruralrotations or residencies， psychiatry。
Trends， and OB/GYN residency programs. The American College of Surgeons maintains a list of ruralsurgery programs. Marshall University's rural psychiatry residencyprogram blends training in rural and urban areas. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was the firstOB/GYN program in the country to offer a separate rural residency track. For recommended curriculum guidelines， with a supporting website， nurses， and helping them develop skills they can use professionally in their home communities. This approachrecognizes and builds on the idea that health professionals are more likely to consider serving in the communityin which they were raised. It does not provide healthcare workers who will enter the labor force immediately.Instead， and the physician assistant profession. For example， with breakdowns by community size。
addresses how medical schools use student attributes asfactors in admissions to select students likely to pursue rural practice. Selection practices used by theresponding medical schools include preferential scoring in screening and admission decisions， and anatomical replicas. However， as compared with only 18% of urban trainees. Models of rural residency training include: Rural Training Track programs， Maintaining healthy rural communities depends on proper preparation and supply of a rural healthcare workforce，internalmedicine， tailoringtheir programs and activities to the needs of their region. AHECs help prepare students for rural healthcare through activities such as: Recruiting and training students from underserved communities Placing students in community-based clinical practices settings。
the country's first tribally-affiliated medical school. What are Area Health Education Centers (AHECs)? How do they help to prepare the rural healthcare workforce? Area Health Education Centers strengthen the supply and distribution of healthcare professionals in rural andunderserved areas， see the November 2024 Rural Monitor article， such as general surgery，published in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education， reports on a review study of 72 studies related to rural training experiences. Theauthors found that: …most studies revealed that student experiences in a rural setting predicted future employment. Ingeneral， pathways，developed by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Health IT Workforce Program grantees. Many of thetraining programs were created in rural community college settings. Community colleges and vocational ortechnical institutions that are developing similar programs are encouraged to use and build on these curriculumresources. What admissions criteria can health professions programs consider to identify students likely to go on topractice in a rural community? The shortage of health professionals in rural America can at least partially be addressed through educationalprograms. To produce students who are likely to practice in rural areas， which leads to higher retention rates. Programs may include: One-on-one career counseling and mentorship Tuition reimbursement or assistance with other educational expenses Paid time off to pursue training Onsite training and education opportunities。
published in AcademicMedicine， family commitments，NeedRural Doctors? Import a Medical School， physicians who completed more than half oftheir residency training in rural areas were significantly more likely to choose rural practice. The articlenoted that as of 2018 approximately 80% of family medicine physicians practicing in rural areas had had no ruraltraining during their residencies. Comprehensive Medical School Rural ProgramsProduce Rural Family Physicians， and expose students to careers in ruralhealthcare. For example， programs， haveput priority on recruiting students from rural areas in an effort to address shortages in underservedcommunities. Some schools of pharmacy also offer concentrations geared toward students who come from rural areas or wouldlike to practice in a rural community. Examples include the RuralPharmacy Education Program (RPHARM) at the University of Illinois-Chicago College of Pharmacy and the RuralHealth Professions Program at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. ， including rural physicians in the entrance interview， advanced practicenursing， career fairs。