Faculty Development in New and Emerging Rural Residency Programs

Background In 2019, the U.S. Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) began funding the Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) awards, intended to help rural communities develop residency programs. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires faculty development for all programs. Rural programs, especially those starting out, often struggle to incorporate faculty development. Objective To characterize types of faculty development that new rural residency programs with RRPD awards are using, describe typical structures of these programs, and assess differences by specialty, region, size, or program structure. Methods We used descriptive and bivariate analysis of FORHP performance report data from fiscal year 2023 of 43 RRPD grant recipients who were starting new residency programs to determine types and structure of faculty development programs. Results Sixteen of 43 grant recipients (37.2%) indicated their faculty participated in structured, mostly longitudinal faculty development programs; 22 (51.2%) participated in a faculty development activity such as a conference or class; and 12 (27.9%) reported no faculty-related activities in that year. Those further along in development were more likely to report engagement in faculty development. There were no differences in faculty development quantity or type based on specialty, region, size, or rural track structure. Conclusions New and developing residencies in the RRPD program engage in faculty development through a myriad of activities, including structured, longitudinal programs as well as conferences, workshops, and trainings.