Building Rural Primary Care Research by Connecting Rural Programs

Abstract

Both research and medical education make substantial contributions to rural primary care and health. An inaugural Scholarly Intensive for Rural Programs was conducted in January 2022 to connect rural programs within a community of practice focused on promoting scholarly activity and research in rural primary health care, education, and training. Participant evaluations confirmed that key learning objectives were met, including stimulating scholarly activity in rural health professions education programs, providing a forum for faculty and student professional development, and growing a community of practice that supports education and training in rural communities. This novel strategy brings enduring scholarly resources to rural programs and the communities they serve, teaches skills to health profession trainees and rurally located faculty, empowers clinical practices and educational programs, and supports the discovery of evidence that can improve the health of rural people.

Obstacles and Opportunities on the Path to Improving Health Professions Education and Practice: Lessons From HRSA’s Academic Units for Primary Care Training and Enhancement

“…Communities of practice, united by shared interests and a commitment to learning and change, 18 feature heavily in the work of the Academic Units. Several articles in this supplement provide examples of communities of practice, or learning communities, applied to diverse primary care-related areas including promoting cross-disciplinary partnering between dentistry and primary care, 13 increasing research and scholarship in rural primary care programs, 19 accelerating the integration of oral health into primary care training program curricula, 14 increasing the number of primary care professionals providing oral health services, 20 addressing social determinants of health in health professions education, 21 and increasing community engagement in undergraduate medical education. 22 Collectively, these researchers explore varied facets of how these communities are formed and function, and the goals they can achieve in changing educational and clinical practices.…”

Overcoming Mission Competition in Departments of Family Medicine

“…6 Literature also shares gains in building rural primary care research and strategies to increase family medicine scholarship. 7,8 In addition, there is concern that the growth rate of family medicine publications has been underestimated, possibly diminishing the impact that family medicine has had in the medical literature. 9 That said, a strong need remains to further build the capacity and funding infrastructure for family medicine research.…”