Developing a rural Veterans Affairs health care research program: Diligence and unique resolutions

This article outlines the development and growth of a rural Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) research program in western North Carolina, United States, and highlights approaches to staffing, funding, and networking. Building a viable research program is one means to improve rural Veteran clinical trial inclusion rates, reduce trial participant disparity, and optimally inform best-practice clinical care guidelines. Defining and creating a small VAMC research program requires diligence and unique solutions, including overcoming hiring hurdles, building collaborations across Veterans Affairs facilities, industry, and community, and carefully crafting development phases via communication, networking, and education to ensure a good fit at each step to solidify continued growth.