Tools
AHA Issues: Health Care Workforce
Database
Comprised of a Commission on Workforce, which focuses on developments and resources to deal with the present health care workforce shortage.
Become An RN
Web site
An online directory of all the accredited second degree or direct entry nursing programs in the US (both BSN and MSN).
Career Voyages
Web site
A collaboration between the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education designed to provide information on high growth, in-demand occupations along with the skills and education needed to attain those jobs.
Community HealthCorps
Web site
Promotes health care for America's underserved. Works to increase access to health care, provide health education, support use of health care services, and recruit and develop volunteers to support community health centers.
Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)
Database
Transmits residency applications, letters of recommendation, Dean's Letters/MSPE, transcripts, and other supporting credentials from applicants and medical schools to Fellowship, Osteopathic Internship and Residency programs using the Internet.
Explore Health Careers.org
Web site
A multi-disciplinary, interactive health careers website designed to explain the array of health professions and provide easy access to students seeking information about health careers.
FindAResident
Database
Helps to locate residency and fellowship positions; puts residents in contact with programs looking to fill these positions; supplements the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS); and is a resource when changing specialty, location, or residency program.
FREIDA Online
Database
Stands for Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database. Contains over 7800 medical education programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, as well as over 200 combined specialty programs. Allows searching for specialty and subspecialty programs, training institutions, medical schools, aggregate training statistics by specialty, and career plans of recent graduates.
Global Health: Exchange Visitor Program
Web site
Provides information and updates on the Exchange Visitor Program (J-1 Visa Waiver) eliminating the two-year foreign residence requirement.
Guidelines for Medically Underserved Area and Population Designation
Web site
Supplies guidelines for use in applying the established Criteria for Designation of Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and Populations (MUPs). Describes three methods for designation.
Health Care Workforce
Web site
Provides news, education, events, and examples of workforce success stories titled Ideas in Action.
Health Workforce Information Center (HWIC)
Web site
An online library which provides information on health workforce issues. Resources include health workforce programs and funding sources; workforce data, research and policy; educational opportunities and models; and news and events, also available through e-mail updates.
HHS.gov/Recovery
Web site
Provides information and resources on the programs invested in improving health and human services supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Medically Underserved Area/Medically Underserved Population (MUA/MUP) Database
Database
Allows searching by state, county, or ID number. Includes designation status and date.
Midwest Center for Health Workforce Studies
Web site
Conducts research on the health workforce to improve health workforce policy and planning at the state, Midwest regional and national level, which leads to increased access to care for underserved populations.
National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
Database
Provides detailed state-by-state data on supply, demand, distribution, education and use of health personnel. Collects, analyzes and disseminates health workforce information and facilitates national, state and local workforce planning efforts. Monitors trends to assure that all segments of society have access to quality health care professionals providing appropriate health care services in all geographic areas.
National Clearinghouse on the Direct Line Workforce
Web site
Consists of a national on-line library for people in search of solutions to the direct-care staffing crisis in long-term care. Includes government and research reports, news, issue briefs, fact sheets, and other information on topics such as recruitment, career advancement supervision, workplace culture, and caregiving practices.
NHSC Job Opportunities
Database
Listing of health professional job opportunities available serving underserved populations. Job listings are not exclusive to NHSC Scholars and those interested in the NHSC Loan Repayment Program.
Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce
Web site
Information and resources to help the public health workforce find and use information effectively. Includes funding sources, data and statistics, career resources and more. Provided by a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations and health sciences libraries.
Physician Perspectives on Rural Medicine
Web site
Web page offers access to video and audio recordings of a presentation given at the 2009 Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) Symposium.
Rural FP Community
Web site
Information and resources for family physicians, health care providers and others who serve the nation's rural families.
Rural FP Community Blog
Web site
In this blog, sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians, authors post their experiences while practicing family medicine in rural areas as well as posting about other topics related to rural family physicians.
Rural Health Research: Workforce
Web site
Provides summaries of current and completed rural health research projects and related publications addressing the topic of health care workforce, produced by the Office of Rural Health Policy's funded rural health research centers.
Rural Hospital Education Gateway
Web site
A one-stop shop for rural hospitals to access distance and web-based educational resources on topics including community engagement, hospital finance, management and leadership, performance improvement, workforce and quality.
Shortage Designation: HPSAs, MUAs & MUPs
Web site
Provides information about health care shortage designations: Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas and Populations (MUAs/MUPs). Includes information on how to apply for these designations and how to find shortage areas.
State Health Workforce Profiles
Web site
Detailed state-by-state data on supply, demand, distribution, education and use of health personnel.
Study Guide Zone
Web site
Free resources for students, beginning professionals, and anyone who wants to improve their score on a standardized test. Includes GED, ACT and SAT test study guides.
U.S. Licensure for International Dentists
Web site
Provides information to dentists who were educated outside the United States and Canada and wish to obtain a dental license in the U.S.
WWAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies Regional Information Center
Web site
Provides access to health workforce information for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho. Content is available by state and by profession.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
2005 Physician Supply and Distribution in Rural Areas of the United States (full report)
Author(s): Meredith A. Fordyce, Frederick M. Chen, Mark P. Doescher, L. Gary Hart
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes the 2005 supply and distribution
of physicians with particular emphasis on
generalists in rural areas.
Date: 11 / 2007
2007 State Physician Workforce Data Book
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Examines the active physician supply in each state, current medical school enrollment, physicians in graduate medical education programs, and in-state retention rates. Includes data charts and tables for all 50 states, in addition to national averages.
Date: 11 / 2007
2009 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Reports to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to rural America. Examines three key topics: workforce and community development, creating viable patient-centered medical homes, and serving at-risk children.
Date: 04 / 2009
A Landscape View of Life and Health Care in Rural Settings
Author(s): Angeline Bushy
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
This second chapter of "Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics", addresses factors such as: geographic isolation, small population, and close social and/or kinship relationships among community members, that can cause or impact ethical dilemmas.
Date: 2009
Access Transformed: Building a Primary Care Workforce for the 21st Century
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
Finds the availability of a primary care workforce depends on where you live, and primary care clinicians are not locating in areas that need them most, especially low-income communities. Includes state-level projections of growing patient needs expected to stretch the health care system in years ahead.
Date: 08 / 2008
Action Plan for Behavioral Health Workforce Development
Author(s): Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Describes a broad, national workforce development plan for the behavioral health workforce. Covers workforce issues relevant to persons with
mental health conditions, substance abuse or substance use disorders, and co-occurring mental and addictive conditions. Includes a chapter focused on rural behavioral health workforce issues.
Date: 2007
Adequacy of Pharmacist Supply: 2004 to 2030
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Examines the current and projected future adequacy of pharmacist supply in the United States, and the future balance between supply and demand, by using HRSA's Bureau of Health Professions Pharmacist Supply and Requirements Model (PhSRM). Reflects findings from a literature review, original empirical analysis, and discussions with representatives from pharmaceutical associations and subject matter experts to develop supply and demand scenarios.
Date: 12 / 2008
Aging of the Primary Care Physician Workforce: Are Rural Locations Vulnerable? (Policy Brief)
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes the rural areas of the U.S. where impending retirement threatens access to primary care, and offers potential solutions to the problem.
Date: 06 / 2009
Allied Health Job Vacancy Tracking Report
Author(s): Erin Fraher, Phillip Summers, Katie Gaul, Stephen Rutledge
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Quantifies workforce demand for selected allied health professions in North Carolina, tracks job vacancy advertisements in print and online sources, summarizes vacancy advertisements by
profession, region, and employer type, and describes the types of sign-on bonuses offered by employers.
Date: 04 / 2007
An Aging U.S. Population and the Health Care Workforce: Factors Affecting the Need for Geriatric Care Workers
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Identifies and critiques major long-term care projection models related to the demand for care of the elderly in three major settings: nursing homes, residential care, and home care.
Date: 02 / 2006
Area Health Education Center and Community Health Center Collaboration: Effective Partnerships for the Recruitment of Health Professionals
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Describes ways that Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) and Community Health Centers (CHCs) can work together to recruit and retain health professionals. Includes examples of AHEC-CHC partnerships in several states.
Date: 2006
Around the Country: Special Series: Technical Assistance Centers: National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network (3RNet)
Author(s): Hope Hanson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Fourth in a series of articles on rural health technical assistance resources around the country funded by the federal Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP). Highlights the National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network (3RNet).
Journal citation: Rural Monitor Issue Summer
Date: 08 / 2006
Bridging the Gap: Partnerships Between Dental Schools and Colleges to Produce a Workforce to Fully Serve America's Diverse Communities
Sponsoring organization: Community Voices: HealthCare for the Underserved
Results of a study which supports the findings and recommendations of the surgeon general's report on oral health. Suggests a new approach be taken, a seven-year program from high school to dental school, with five of those years a combined college/basic science program and the final two years at a cooperating dental school.
Date: 05 / 2006
Changes in the Rural Registered Nurse Workforce from 1980 to 2004 (Final Report)
Author(s): Susan M. Skillman, Lorella Palazzo, L. Gary Hart, Patricia Butterfield
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes changes in rural and urban Registered Nurse demographics, education, and employment characteristics over time.
Date: 10 / 2007
Community Colleges: Critical Training
Author(s): Thomas D. Rowley
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses the role community colleges play in health care workforce training across the nation.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor Volume 11 Issue 3
Date: 01 / 2005
Community Health Aide Program: Overview 2007
Provides a detailed overview of Community Health Aide Program (CHAP) including the history, current practice, training, field supervision, and quality assurance of this unique program that facilitates health care services in Alaska's remote villages.
Date: 03 / 2007
Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections Through 2025
Author(s): Michael J. Dill, Edward S. Salsberg
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Presents physician supply and demand projections under a variety of scenarios for the US
through 2025.
Date: 11 / 2008
Contribution of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to Generalist Care in Washington State
Author(s): Eric H. Larson, Lorella Palazzo, Bobbi Berkowitz, Michael J. Pirani, L. Gary Hart
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes the contribution to generalist care made by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) in Washington State. Includes data on NP and PA contributions in rural areas.
Journal citation: Health Services Research Volume 38 Issue 4 Pages: 1033-1050
Date: 08 / 2003
Crisis in Rural General Surgery
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes issues rural general surgeons face and why maintaining their supply is important in meeting the needs of the aging rural population.
Date: 04 / 2009
Crisis in Rural Primary Care
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes issues facing primary health care in rural America including: a declining number of students choosing this career path, low compensation rates, rising malpractice premiums, professional isolation, limited time off, and the scarcity of jobs for spouses.
Date: 04 / 2009
Critical Care Workforce: A Study of the Supply and Demand for Critical Care Physicians
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Examines the adequacy of the critical care workforce. Working with the American College of Chest Physicians, HRSA and its consultants updated the physician workforce models to include critical care physicians.
Date: 2006
Distance Education in EMS: A Literature Review and Rural/Urban Comparison
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
Explores what is known about distance learning in EMS and how distance learning is being used to provide continuing education to EMS professionals in rural and urban areas. Includes recommendations for future development and application.
Date: 2007
EMS Workforce for the 21st Century: A National Assessment
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Emergency Medical Services Division
Results of research that addresses workforce planning such as having adequate EMS workforce; attracting and retaining EMS workers; maintaining EMS workforce resources across all populations and geo-graphic areas; future demand; and obtaining information.
Date: 06 / 2008
Ethical Life of Rural Health Care Professionals
Author(s): Ruth B. Purtilo
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
This third chapter of "Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics," examines questions regarding the significance of morality and ethics to rural health care professionals, how they are useful, and how professionals can balance contradicting values, then presents suggestions for nurturing these values.
Date: 2009
Farm Rescue and EMS: A State by State Directory
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
A directory of contacts by state that specialize in farm rescue and response training.
Female Physician Recruitment Secrets for Rural Communities
Sponsoring organization: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Lists the top 10 things a woman physician should know about rural medical practice as well as tips for rural communities in recruiting and retaining female physicians.
Date: 2005
Financing Dental Education: Public Policy Interests, Issues and Strategic Considerations
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Informs State and Federal officials about key issues concerning the structure and financing of dental education and, in particular, to highlight public policy considerations. The report's primary focus is on predoctoral dental education (i.e., programs that award D.D.S. or D.M.D. degrees to graduates of U.S. dental schools). Addresses issues related to the dental care workforce in rural areas.
Date: 2006
From Education to Regulation: Dynamic Challenges for the Health Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Association of Academic Health Centers
A set of papers that clarify some of the issues related to producing and retaining a 21st century health workforce including the unresolved challenges of workforce regulations, professional and educational standards, workplace practices, and offers possible responses.
Date: 2008
Growth and Change in the Physician Assistant Workforce in the United States, 1967-2000
Author(s): Larson, E. H., Hart, L. G.
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes key elements of change in the demography and distribution of the PA population between 1967 and 2000, as well as the spread of PA training programs.
Date: 2007
Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics: A Practical Guide for Professionals
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
Analyzes, solves, and anticipates health care ethics dilemmas to provide general ethics information and related guidance for clinicians and administrators of rural health care facilities.
Date: 2009
Health Care Challenges Abundant in the Alaskan Frontier
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses health care workforce shortages in Alaska’s Wrangell and Petersburg frontier communities. Highlights Alaska’s Community Health Aide Program (CHAP), which serves the state’s Native population, using more than 550 Community Health Aides/Practitioners, employed by 27 tribal health organizations, who practice in more than 180 rural villages in the state’s most remote areas known as the bush.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08 / 2007
Health Professions Programs: Educating and Training Health Professionals to Serve All Communities FY 2009 Brochure
Sponsoring organization: Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition
Discusses Titles VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act which are health professions programs that support the training and education of health care providers with the aim of enhancing the supply, diversity, and distribution of the workforce, filling the
gaps in the health professions' supply.
Date: 2009
High Cost of Student Debt
Author(s): Alex McEllistrem-Evenson
Sponsoring organization: Health Workforce Information Center
Provides a brief overview of the impact of student debt load on primary care workforce.
Journal citation: Health Workforce News
Date: 09 / 2009
How is a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians Affecting the Quality and Cost of Medical Care?: A Comprehensive Evidence Review
Author(s): M. Renee Zerehi
Sponsoring organization: American College of Physicians
An overview of current trends in the primary care physician workforce, the importance and value of primary care, and the growing demand for primary care services in the United States. Includes references to rural.
Date: 2008
Idaho Rural Family Physician Workforce Study: Examining the Trait of Grit and Satisfaction in Idaho Physicians
Author(s): Alex J. Reed, David Schmitz, Ed Baker, Ayaka Nukui, Jaime Sand, Hailey Wilson, Ted Epperly
Sponsoring organization: Idaho State Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
Phase three of a series of studies to assess both rural and non-rural primary care and specialty care physician’s self reported levels of perseverance, passion and satisfaction in current practice in Idaho.
Date: 07 / 2009
Idaho Rural Family Physician Workforce Study: The Community Apgar Questionnaire
Author(s): David Schmitz, Ed Baker, Ted Epperly, Alex Reed, Ayaka Nukui
Sponsoring organization: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
Identifies community factors that help rural communities recruit and retain family physicians.
Date: 07 / 2008
International Medical Graduate Physicians in the U.S.: Changes Since 1981
Author(s): L. Gary Hart, Susan M. Skillman, Amy Hagopian, Meredith A. Fordyce, Matthew J. Thompson, Thomas R. Konrad
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies
Results of a study which describes changes over time in IMGs' country of education, demographics, type of practice, specialty, and propensity to practice in needy locations since 1981.
Date: 03 / 2005
Linking Workforce Policy to Health Care Reform
Author(s): David C. Goodman
Transcript of the invited testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Finance about the health workforce and its relationship to health care reform as presented by David C. Goodman.
Date: 03 / 2009
Longitudinal Trends in the U.S. Surgical Workforce 1981-2006: Overall Growth Has Stalled; General Surgery Supply Contracting
Author(s): Stephanie Poley, Daniel Belsky, Katie Gaul, Thomas Ricketts, Erin Fraher, George Sheldon
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute
Discusses U.S. surgical workforce trends over the last 25 years and the problem of geographic distribution of surgeons in future years.
Date: 05 / 2009
Matter of Degrees: Tomorrow’s Fastest-Growing Jobs and Why Community College Graduates Will Get Them
Author(s): Jessica Milano, Bruce Reed, Paul Weinstein Jr.
Examines hot jobs in four of the fastest growing sectors of the economy: education, health care, information technology, and energy and environment.
Date: 09 / 2009
Medical School Programs to Increase the Rural Physician Supply: A Systematic Review and Projected Impact of Widespread Replication
Author(s): Howard K. Rabinowitz, James J. Diamond, Fred W. Markham
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Study which examined rural physician training efforts. Six medical school programs designed to increase the ranks of rural physicians could be nationally replicated to more than double the number of graduates who choose to practice in rural areas across the next decade.
Journal citation: Academic Medicine Volume 83 Issue 3 Pages: 235-243
Date: 03 / 2008
Medicare Physician Payment: Impacts of Changes on Rural Physicians
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Overview of the effects of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 on physician payment rates in rural areas. Discusses the impact of creating a floor of 1.00 in the geographic practice cost index (GPCI) for work expense and the effects of the Medicare incentive payment (MIP) for providing services in shortage areas and of the bonus for practicing in a physician scarcity area.
Date: 09 / 2006
Nurse Practitioner Facts
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Provides statistics and data about nurse practitioners, including distribution, years of practice, and age by specialty.
Date: 2007
Nursing Workforce Challenge: Public Policy for a Dynamic and Complex Market
Author(s): Randall R. Bovbjerg, Barbara A. Ormond, Nancy Pindus
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
Reviews major policy issues related to the nursing workforce, drawing upon prior Urban Institute work, new literature review, assessment of federal survey data, and key informant interviews.
Date: 08 / 2009
Nursing Workforce: HHS Needs Methodology to Identify Facilities with a Critical Shortage of Nurses
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
GAO reports on changes in the RN shortage since 2000. Also discusses the impact of the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP) and Nursing Scholarship Program (NSP) on the shortage of nurses.
Date: 04 / 2007
On-Line Atlas of International Medical Graduates
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies
Displays trends in the geographic distribution of International Medical Graduates (IMGs) over the past 20 years through a series of maps.
Date: 09 / 2005
Out of Order, Out of Time: The State of the Nation’s Health Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Association of Academic Health Centers
Focuses attention on the critical need for a new, collaborative, coordinated, national
health workforce planning initiative. Presents findings, conclusions, recommendations and includes references to rural.
Date: 2008
Outcomes of Community Health Worker Interventions
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Results of a systematic review on the characteristics of community health workers (CHWs) and CHW interventions, outcomes of such interventions, costs and cost-effectiveness of CHW interventions, and characteristics of CHW training. Includes references to rural.
Date: 06 / 2009
Pathways to Rural Practice: A Chartbook of Family Medicine Residency Training Locations and Characteristics
Author(s): L. Gary Hart, Denise M. Lishner, Eric H. Larson, Frederick M. Chen, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Thomas E. Norris, Ronald Schneeweiss, Tim M. Henderson, Roger A. Rosenblatt
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Discusses characteristics and geographic locations of family medicine residency programs' rural locations, types of rural family medicine training by location, and rural mission of family medicine residencies.
Date: 08 / 2005
Pediatric Surgeons: Subspecialists Increase Faster than Generalists
Author(s): Stephanie Poley,Thomas Ricketts, Daniel Belsky, Katie Gaul
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute
A fact sheet discussing the expansion of the pediatric surgical workforce with an increase in the number of subspecialists whereas growth in the general pediatric workforce has remained flat. Urban and rural data are compared.
Date: 07 / 2009
Physician Shortage and Distribution
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
Brief overview of the physician shortage issues faced by rural hospitals. Includes information on current public policy, and resources for hospitals.
Physician Supply and Demand: Projections to 2020
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Presents projections of physician supply and requirements for 18 physician specialties using the Physician Supply Model and the Physician Requirements Model. Describes data, assumptions and methods used to project the future supply of and requirements for physician services.
Date: 10 / 2006
Primary Care Professionals: Recent Supply Trends, Projections, and Valuation of Services
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Focuses on recent supply trends for primary care professionals, including information on training and demographic characteristics; projections of future supply for primary care professionals; and the influence of the health care system's financing mechanisms on the valuation of primary care services.
Date: 02 / 2008
Q&A With Dr. Robert Phillips, Jr.
Author(s): Alex McEllistrem-Evenson
Sponsoring organization: Health Workforce Information Center
Discusses the impact of student debt load on primary care workforce.
Journal citation: Health Workforce News
Date: 09 / 2009
Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health Care (Full Report)
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Examines the quality of health care in rural America. Includes recommendations to improve health care quality and safety in rural communities. Addresses workforce, information technology, finance and other factors that impact rural health care quality.
Date: 11 / 2004
Rationale for Diversity in the Health Professions: A Review of the Evidence
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Health Professions
Examined publicly available studies addressing a diverse health professions workforce.
Date: 10 / 2006
Reaching Out to Rural Regions: New MD Program Aims to Address Shortages
Author(s): Dian Land
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Office of Rural Health
Highlights the University of Wisconsin School
of Medicine and Public Health WARM Program, which is a new medical degree created and aimed at addressing the serious shortage of physicians in rural areas of Wisconsin. WARM stands for The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine.
Date: 11 / 2006
Recruiting Local People to Fill Health Care Needs
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses how frontier and rural health care providers looking for innovative ways to solve increasing workforce shortages, are recruiting and training local people to be health care professionals in their communities. Highlights programs in Nevada, Maryland, and Alaska.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08 / 2007
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Introduction: Defining the Issues and the Principles of Recruitment and Retention
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Overview of the issues endemic to health care workforce recruitment and retention in rural areas. First in a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 03 / 2005
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 13: Emergency Medical Services
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Discusses the challenges facing rural and frontier emergency medical services, including recruitment, financial issues, and training. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 11 / 2005
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 14: Issues of Preserving Rural Professional Quality of Life
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Addresses the importance of professional quality of life to the recruitment and retention of health professionals. Discusses methods for supporting the positive effects of care giving and preventing the negative effects for different types of healthcare providers. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development.
Date: 05 / 2006
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 1: Physicians
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Overview of issues related to the recruitment and retention of physicians in rural areas. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 11 / 2006
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 2: Nursing
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Overview of issues related to the nursing workforce shortage, with recommendations to improve recruitment and retention of nurses. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 12 / 2005
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 3: Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Discusses the challenges of recruiting pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to work in rural areas. Describes successful recruitment programs in Minnesota and West Virginia. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 05 / 2006
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 4: Oral Health
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Overview of issues related to the oral health workforce in rural areas. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 11 / 2006
Recruitment and Retention Of A Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 7: Rural Health Careers Pipeline: Kindergarten to 12th Grade Education
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Discusses the shortage of health care providers in rural areas, and the impact that health career programs for rural students could have on the supply of health care providers. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 02 / 2006
Registered Nurse Population: Findings from the March 2004 National Sample of Registered Nurses
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Summarizes results of a study on collected data on the actively licensed registered nurse
population as of March 2004.
Date: 03 / 2006
Remarks to The Healthcare Workforce Crisis: A Summit on the Future of Primary Care in Rural and Urban America
Author(s): Mary K. Wakefield
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
This is the speech transcript in which HRSA's administrator, Mary K. Wakefield, discusses the healthcare workforce crisis in rural and urban America.
Date: 08 / 2009
Retaining Rural Nurses: Midwestern Summit on Retaining and Making Best use of the Older More Experienced Rural Registered Nurse
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
Highlights of a one-day session, consisting of 25 nurse-leaders from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota who engaged in a series of roundtable discussions on the future of older
nurses in rural communities.
Date: 08 / 2007
Retention of Family Physicians
Author(s): Robert C. Bowman
Helpful for all of those currently challenged with funding and other areas regarding family medicine and rural health. Document has text and links to other resources. Has a Midwest focus, but it can be revised to meet specific states.
Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Results of a study to determine the health care needs of Americans over 65 years of age and to assess those needs through an analysis of the forces that shape the health care workforce, including education and training, models of care, and public and private programs. Executive summary is available as a PDF.
Date: 04 / 2008
Review & Commentary on Health Policy Issues for a Rural Perspective-February, 2009
Sponsoring organization: Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
Discusses healthcare workforce shortage issues affecting primary care in rural Wisconsin. Features interviews from rural health care advocates and presents strategies to address and reverse the shortage problem.
Date: 02 / 2009
Rural Health Care Workforce: Opportunities to Improve Care Delivery
Author(s): Melissa Loftis Florell
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Part of a series on health care reform that focuses on rural health care workforce.
Date: 08 / 2009
Rural Kaleidoscope: A Guide on Promising Practices to Diversify California's Rural Healthcare Workforce
Author(s): Lisel Blash, Eva Schiorring
Sponsoring organization: California State Rural Health Association
Focuses on helping those who recruit new health care professionals, retain existing staff, develop workforce partnerships, and work with community organizations.
Date: 12 / 2005
Rural Spotlight: An Interview with Robert C. Bowman, M.D.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
An interview with one of the country’s leading researchers in rural medical education who discusses ways to recruit and retain rural physicians.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11 / 2007
Rural Workers Would Benefit More Than Urban Workers from an Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage
Author(s): William O'Hare
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Looks at how an increase in the minimum wage would impact rural workers relative to urban workers by examining workers who are likely to benefit directly from an increase in the minimum wage because they currently earn less than $7.25 an hour. This group is called "low-wage workers." Looks at 74 million hourly workers who represent about 60 percent of all workers.
Date: 2007
Rural-Urban Comparison of Allied Health Average Hourly Wages
Author(s): Indira Richardson, Rebecca Slifkin, Randy Randolph, Mark Holmes
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Explores the hourly wage differences of allied health care professionals in rural and urban areas. Discusses whether a wage deviation contributes to the health care workforce shortage issues found in rural areas.
Date: 01 / 2009
Satisfaction with Practice and Decision to Relocate: An Examination of Rural Physicians
Author(s): Marc Berk, Jack Feldman, Claudia Schur, Jyoti Gupta
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Examines physician satisfaction with various aspects of practice and its association with decisions to continue or discontinue practicing in a rural location.
Date: 05 / 2009
Shortages of Medical Personnel at Community Health Centers
Author(s): Roger A. Rosenblatt, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Thomas Curtin, L. Gary Hart
Discusses staffing shortages at Community Health Centers (CHCs) in rural and urban locations and how these workforce shortages may impact efforts to expand the CHC program.
Journal citation: JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association Volume 295 Issue 9 Pages: 1042-1049
Date: 03 / 2006
Specialty and Geographic Distribution of the Physician Workforce: What Influences Medical Student & Resident Choices?
Sponsoring organization: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
This study discusses important policy options and incentives by identifying factors that influence medical student and resident choices about medical specialties and location of practice. Includes several references to rural practice.
Date: 03 / 2009
State Public Health Employee Worker Shortage Report: A Civil Service Recruitment and Retention Crisis
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Results of a survey of 37 state public health agencies on public health employee workforce shortages.
Date: 2005
Threats to the Future Supply of Rural Registered Nurses
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Explains how the shortages of registered nurses (RNs) in rural areas may grow as the “baby boom” generation retires and as RNs commute to larger towns and urban areas for work. Presents potential solutions to this foreseen shortage problem.
Date: 04 / 2009
Training Programs for Certified Nursing Assistants
Author(s): Esther Hernández-Medina, Susan Eaton, Donna Hurd, Alan White
Sponsoring organization: AARP
Reports on CNA education and training by exploring how many additional hours of initial training and clinical training are needed to
equip CNAs to provide good quality care to residents. It also examines pre-training
screening, remedial education, training in English as a Second Language, and shadowing; CNA
testing; and reimbursement of CNAs for their training and testing expenses.
Date: 03 / 2006
Trends in the Supply of Dentists in North Carolina, 1996-2005
Author(s): Erin Fraher, Katie Gaul, Jennifer King, Hazel Hadley, Claire de la Varre, Thomas Ricketts
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Highlights workforce supply, distribution, professional shortage areas, demographics, and practice characteristics and training.
Date: 02 / 2007
U.S. Rural Physician Workforce: Analysis of Medical School Graduates from 1988-1997 (Final Report)
Author(s): Frederick M. Chen, Meredith A. Fordyce, Steve Andes, L. Gary Hart
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes the training of the rural physician workforce in the United States and examines the variations in medical school and residency production of rural physicians.
Date: 10 / 2008
U.S. Rural Physician Workforce: Analysis of Medical School Graduates from 1988-1997 (Policy Brief)
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Reports on the rural physician workforce. Those most likely to practice in rural areas were osteopathic and primary care physicians.
Date: 10 / 2008
War Has Big Impact in Rural Areas
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Describes the challenges rural health care facilities experience when their health care providers are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 2007
What is Behind HRSA's Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortage of Registered Nurses?
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Provides a brief overview of two models: Nursing Supply Model (NSM) and the Nursing Demand Model (NDM). Describes the data, methods, and assumptions used to project RN supply and demand; presents findings from the models; and discusses the limitations of these and other models and methods to forecast demand for health workers.
Date: 2006
Will Rural Family Medicine Residency Training Survive?
Author(s): Rosenblatt, Roger; Hagopian Amy; Andrilla Holly; Hart Gary
Sponsoring organization: Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
Examines the recent performance of rural residencies in the National Resident Matching Program as an indicator of their viability.
Journal citation: Family Medicine Journal Volume 38 Issue 10 Pages: 705-711
Date: 11 / 2006
Workers Who Care: A Graphical Profile of the Frontline Health and Health Care Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Chartbook providing information about frontline health care occupations, covering 32 occupational groups of health and health care workers with high levels of direct care/service, median annual
wages under $40,000 and required educational training of a bachelor's degree or below. Data is available at the national level and by state.
Date: 2006
Workforce Development in Rural Local Public Health Agencies
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
Focuses on the public health workforce recruitment and retention challenges as well as strategies for training and retraining new and existing staff in rural local public health practice areas.
Date: 07 / 2005
Workforce Issues Among Sole Community Pharmacies
Author(s): Donald Klepser, Michelle Lampman, Andrea Radford, Indira Richardson, Stephen Rutledge
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Explores the shared experiences of sole community pharmacist-owners regarding the challenges facing the pharmacy workforce in their communities and their concerns about their pharmacy's future.
Date: 07 / 2009
Wyoming Primary Care Gaps and Policy Options
Author(s): Susan M. Skillman, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Mark P. Doescher, Barbara J. Robinson
Provides an overview of primary care providers within Wyoming and provides examples and policy options that could be employed to bolster the primary care workforce in the state.
Date: 12 / 2008
