The Southern Rural Access Program and Alabama's Rural Health Leaders Pipeline: A Partnership to Develop Needed Minority Health Care Professionals

Abstract

Rural Health Leaders Pipeline programs are intended to increase the number of youth interested in and pursuing health professions in rural communities. This paper presents 2 complementary approaches to Rural Health Leaders Pipeline programs. Two different organizations in Alabama recruit students from 18 specified counties. One organization is a rural, community‐based program with college freshmen and upperclassmen from rural communities. Students shadow health professionals for 6 weeks, attend classes, visit medical schools, complete and present health projects, and receive support from online tutors. The second organization is a universitybased program that supplements an existing 11th grademedical school rural medicine pipeline with 10 minority students from rural communities who have graduated from high school and plan to enter college as premedical students in the following academic year. Students participate in classes, tutorials, seminars, and other activities. Students earn college credits during the 7‐week program, maintain contact with program staff during the school year, and by performance and interest can continue in this pipeline program for a total of 4 consecutive summers, culminating in application to medical school. Each organization provides stipends for students. Early experiences have been positive, although Rural Health Leaders Pipeline programs are expensive and require long‐term commitments

Pipeline Programs Can Support Reforms in Medical Education: A Cohort Study of Alabama's Rural Health Leaders Pipeline to Engage Community Leaders

“…18 The authors initiated the UA RHLP to increase the number of rural students becoming rural health professionals. 19 We proposed that rural high school students nurtured through a pipeline program, and others who joined downstream, would benefit themselves and rural counties by becoming health professionals. The State of Alabama funded 2 preprofessional pipeline component programs (described below) at $1,500 per student per year.…”

“…The Rural Medical Scholars Program (RMS) is a 5-year program combining rural community health (either certificate or master's degree) and medical studies with rural emphasis at a clinical branch campus of the University of Alabama School of Medicine. We evaluated component programs' processes and outcomes 14,[19][20][21][22] finding positive results; however, we had not taken an overview of the pipeline for responsiveness to rural counties.…”

Undergraduate College Pathway Programs Designed to Attract and Matriculate Students from Underrepresented Groups into Medicine

“…Programs ranged in size of accepted participants, from five to 130 participants, with 50% of programs serving 10 to 20 students per year. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] Although all of the programs were designed to include URiM students, not all of the programs reported detailed demographic information on participant race or ethnicity. Among the programs reporting sex, female students were consistently the majority enrolled, and in seven (28%) of the programs, women students accounted for more than 80% of the accepted cohort.…”

“…Among the programs reporting sex, female students were consistently the majority enrolled, and in seven (28%) of the programs, women students accounted for more than 80% of the accepted cohort. 22,23,25,26,29,34,35 Since 1996, University of California-based programs 27 could not collect race or ethnicity data as part of recruitment because of legal limitations (eg, challenges to affirmative action) and therefore relied on other metrics such as identification residential ZIP codes or income to serve as markers for underrepresented status. 31 Four (16%) programs deliberately partnered with minority-serving organizations such as local historically Black colleges and universities.…”

Medical education for African American communities in the rural South: A focus group approach to identify fundamental considerations

“…30 Levels of influence include intrapersonal or individual factors; interpersonal processes and primary groups of importance; institutional or organizational factors, such as rules, regulations, policies, and informal The National Rural Health Association's RME group, which represents institutions across the nation (https://www.ruralhealthweb.org/ programs/rural-medical-education) and convenes annually a conclave to explore topics in rural medical education, 33 provided study participants. Other informants with insights through the RHLP and its history of involving rural minority students 29,34,35 were URiM program alumni, associates in rural medical education, and institutional partners.…”