RPAP and UMN-Duluth provide significant, complementary educational programs that lead more graduates to choose rural and primary care practices. Efforts across the nation to address the crisis in rural primary care should build on these successful efforts.

Despite their relatively small size, RPs had a significant impact on rural family physician and primary care supply compared with the much larger cohort of IMGs. Wider adoption of the RP model would substantially increase access to care in rural areas compared with increasing reliance on IMGs or unfocused expansion of traditional medical schools.