Building Rural Primary Care Research by Connecting Rural Programs

Area of Science:

• Rural Health
• Medical Education
• Primary Health Care Research

Background:

• Research and medical education are vital for rural primary care.
• Rural areas face unique challenges in healthcare access and education.
• Promoting scholarly activity is crucial for advancing rural health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a community of practice for rural health programs.
• To foster scholarly activity and research in rural primary health care, education, and training.
• To connect rural programs and facilitate professional development.

Main Methods:

• An inaugural Scholarly Intensive for Rural Programs was convened in January 2022.
• The intensive focused on promoting scholarly activity within rural health professions education.
• Participant evaluations were used to assess the achievement of learning objectives.

Main Results:

• Key learning objectives were met, as confirmed by participant evaluations.
• The initiative successfully stimulated scholarly activity in rural health professions education.
• A community of practice was established, supporting education and training in rural communities.

Conclusions:

• The Scholarly Intensive is a novel strategy to bring scholarly resources to rural programs.
• This approach empowers clinical practices and educational programs in rural settings.
• It supports evidence discovery to improve the health of rural populations.