Bibliography of Important Articles and Briefs in the Development of Rural Programs
Last Updated: 1-4-2020, Randall Longenecker MD, Executive Director
The following are available online and each contain important references to many more:
Rural Workforce Years: Quantifying the Rural Workforce Contribution of Family Medicine Residency Program Graduates
Although workforce years as a concept have been used in the past outside medicine, this is one of the first to rigorously explore the concept in rural residency education in the US.
Pipelines to Pathways: Medical School Commitment to Producing a Rural Workforce.
This article in The Journal of Rural Health. published November 27, 2020, early view online, sets a definition for a rural program in medical school, cataloguing many of the important articles about such programs over the past 30 years and listing all medical school rural programs in the US in 2019.
Pipeline Programs Can Support Reforms in Medical Education: A Cohort Study of Alabama’s Rural Health Leaders Pipeline to Engage Community Leaders
Wheat and Leeper, two stalwarts in the development and evaluation of pipeline efforts in Alabama was published in The Journal of Rural Health, in November 2020. For a recorded webinar presented by Dr. Wheat in December 2020, please visit the Rural PREP Resource Library.
An Organic Approach to Health Professions Education and Health Equity: Learning In and With Underserved Communities
Published in a supplement to the J Health Care for the Poor and Underserved this commentary describes an organic place-based approach to the design and refinement of medical education and training in rural communities.
Journal of Health Care for the Rural and Underserved, November 2020
A Roadmap to Rural Residency Program Development
This article outlines the progressive stages of the process, from early interest and recognized need for a GME program to meet local health care needs, to the implementation of a functional, accredited, and financially sustainable program. Additional resources and tools for developing rural residencies are available at www.ruralgme.org.
Rural Medical Education Programs: A Proposed Nomenclature
A perspective written by the executive director of The RTT Collaborative, Dr. Randall Longenecker, summarizing the history of definitions around rural medical education programs and published by the ACGME, proposes a common nomenclature.
Journal of Graduate Medical Education, June 2017
Building a community of practice in rural medical education: Growing our own together.
A history of the community of practice in rural medical education over the past 2-3 decades is chronicled in Rural and Remote Health in March 2017.
Rural Health Information HubEducation and Training of the Rural Healthcare Workforce Introduction
Information, resources, and frequently asked questions related to the education and training of the rural healthcare workforce.
Rural Health Information Hub
Family Medicine Rural Training Track Residencies: 2008-2015 Graduate Outcomes
Policy brief tracking practice outcomes of family physicians who completed graduate medical education in Rural Training Track (RTT) residency programs. Features statistics on 253 RTT graduates, including background characteristics and percentage practicing in rural areas and Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) 1-7 years after graduation. Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center. Date: 02/2016
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Residency Training for Family Medicine Physicians: Graduate Early-Career Outcomes, 2008-2012
Discusses the effectiveness of family medicine rural training track residency programs (RTTs), which train physicians for practice in rural and underserved areas. Sponsoring organization: Rural Training Track Technical Assistance Program. Date: 01/2013
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Residency Training for Family Medicine Physicians: Graduate Early-Career Outcomes
Discusses family medicine rural training track residency programs (RTTs), which train physicians for practice in rural and underserved areas. Sponsoring organization: Rural Training Track Technical Assistance Program. Date: 01/2012
Rural Health Information Hub
Family Medicine Spokane Rural Training Track: 24 Years of Rural-Based Graduate Medical Education
Describes the Family Medicine Spokane (FMS) Rural Training Track, its success, challenges, and lessons learned. Date: 11/2010
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Training Track Programs: A Guide to the Medicare Requirements
Provides guidance to urban hospitals, rural hospitals, and rural non-hospital clinical training sites on how to take part in a Rural Training Track (RTT) to train residents to practice in rural areas. Explains how hospitals can receive additional payments from Medicare to train residents in an RTT program, beyond the graduate medical education (GME) caps in place since 1996. Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges. Date: 2015
Rural Health Information Hub
Building a Community of Practice in Rural Medical Education: Growing our own together
Chronicles the rise, decline, and recent resurgence of rural training track residency programs (RTTs) in the USA over the past 30 years and the emergence of a healthy community of practice in rural medical education. Date: 03/2017
Rural and Remote Health
The following articles are available as abstracts on PubMed, and full copies may be available from your local university.
Increasing the Rural Physician Workforce: A Potential Role for Small Rural Medical School Campuses
The authors conclude that the investment of resources in a rural campus may add an increment to rural practice choice beyond the established associations with rural upbringing and family medicine residency.
June 2016
The WWAMI Targeted Rural Underserved Track (TRUST) Program: An Innovative Response to Rural Physician Workforce Shortages
To address the physician workforce needs of the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI) region, the University of Washington School of Medicine developed the Targeted Rural Underserved Track (TRUST) program.
January 2016
Influencing Residency Choice and Practice Location Through a Longitudinal Rural Pipeline Program
The University of Missouri School of Medicine developed the Rural Track Pipeline Program (MU-RTPP) to increase the supply and retention of rural physicians statewide.
November 2011