February 8, 2024
The MMA and the University of Minnesota Medical School will present a virtual forum on “Minnesota’s Rural Healthcare Workforce” from noon to 1 pm on February 21.
Rural inequities in health are well-documented and persistent. One contributing factor to poorer health outcomes for rural residents is access to healthcare. Rural healthcare workforce shortages are a challenge for ensuring access to care and are a major topic for policymakers, educators, and health systems in Minnesota and beyond.
The goal of this session is to provide an overview of the rural healthcare workforce and strategies used to increase the number of healthcare workers practicing in rural areas. Factors associated with healthcare workers' decisions to stay or leave rural areas also will be discussed. This will be followed by a review of lessons and outcomes of the Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP), a nine-month rural longitudinal education experience for third-year medical students, as well as a review of emerging findings from ongoing research about improving recruitment and retention of healthcare workers in rural areas.
Learning objectives for the forum include:
Define the factors that impact a healthcare professional’s choice to practice in a rural location;
Describe the impact of a rurally focused education program for medical students on future practice location;
Discuss the healthcare workforce needs across the spectrum of healthcare; and
Identify modifiable factors to enhance the rural healthcare workforce.
Speakers for the forum include Teri Fritsma, PhD, with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH); Kirby Clark, MD, director, Rural and Metropolitan Physician Associate Programs at the University of Minnesota Medical School; and Zora Radosevich, director, Minnesota Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. Andrew Olson, MD, associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School, will serve as moderator.
To register, click here.
May 29, 2025
As the Legislature works to complete its work on the state’s two-year budget, another deadline is looming. Legislators are required to pass a balanced budget before the end of the fiscal year—June 30, 2025. If they don’t meet that deadline, the state will begin a partial shutdown.
May 29, 2025
Registration has opened for the Empowering Physicians: A Night of Reflection and Engagement event, featuring best-selling author Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD.
May 29, 2025
The AMA is encouraging physicians to contact their U.S. senators and urge them to revise the reconciliation bill passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives. While the bill includes language that would stabilize Medicare physician payments, it also threatens to cripple Medicaid and CHIP.