Rural Health Training Programs Spreading

It's an oft-cited statistic: Only about 10% of physicians practice in rural areas, although nearly 25% of Americans live in rural areas. And though there are countless benefits to practicing in rural areas, provider recruitment and retention continues to be a challenge.

Rather than simply courting big-city providers and graduates, it's critical for rural communities and organizations to develop their own talent. Thankfully, that seems to be happening more and more often.

A new program the University of Florida's College of Public Health and Health Professions is among the latest to train rural providers where they'll be practicing. The school has partnered with Florida A&M University's Institute of Public Health to establish the Rural South Public Health Training Center. Using grant funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, the center will provide competency-based training for public health workers and internships for Masters of Public Health students.

One of the many benefits to local training programs is the fact that they place special emphasis on the specific health issues that affect patients in a particular region. For example, the Rural South Public Health Training Center will serve medically underserved counties in Florida, particularly in northern rural regions of the state, and one main focus area will be on developing skills for the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS.

According to published research, this kind of outreach is needed in rural northern Florida. A 2003 study in the journal Public Health Nursing showed that "HIV prevention outreach should be expanded" in rural areas of the state. Plus, rural residents account for 9% of the state's HIV/AIDS population, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The programs at the Rural South Public Health Training Center will include:

• Free, online continuing education to Florida public health workers, which will provide continuing education credits for up to 500 public health workers per year.
• Online certificates in public health foundations and in prevention and management of HIV for professionals with a bachelor's degree
• Competitive, paid internships
• A graduate certificate in HIV/AIDS prevention and management available to UF and FAMU Master of Public Health and doctoral students, as well as online participants from anywhere in the world; to be added next fall

But even beyond teaching healthcare providers about rural patients' specific health needs, research shows that developing physicians at home seems to help keep them at home. The University of Missouri School of Medicine recently completed a study of its almost 17-year-old Rural Track Pipeline program, which prepares college and medical students for practicing medicine in rural areas.

It found that 65% percent of students who participated in the program practice in Missouri, and 43% practice in rural areas of the state. In and outside of Missouri, more than 57% of participating students practice in rural areas. That's a stark difference from the 10% national average.

In addition to the Rural South Public Health Training Center, there are several other new rural health tracks throughout the country. Students in the rural program at the Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, Colo., work in rural medical practices and EDs, and get training in subjects that apply to rural medicine in Colorado, such as treating altitude sickness and aiding search-and-rescue operations, according to the AMA's American Medical News. The school's Rural/Wilderness Medicine track even offers clinical rotations in wilderness settings.

In July, the University of Kansas School of Medicine opened a new campus in Salina, Kansas, aimed at students with a strong desire to practice in rural areas. The inaugural class comprised eight students, which the school says makes it the smallest four-year medical-education site in the country. Those students will receive some training with medical students on the Kansas City and Wichita campuses via interactive televideo and podcasts, as well as training in the offices of rural physicians and at the Salina Regional Health Center.

And just this week, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard proposed an additional $1 million for the state's medical school budget to help establish a rural track at the Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota, reports the Argus Leader.