Rural Medical Educator’s Interest Group of the

National Rural Health Association

Joe Florence, MDDirector of Rural Programs – East Tennessee State University

NRHA RME Senior Co-chair

Rural Educators Day - QuebecNovember 2, 2006

NRHA: Mission Statement

• The National Rural Health Association is a national membership organization whose mission is to improve the health of rural Americans and to provide leadership on rural issues through advocacy, communications, education and research.

Mission Achieved Through:

• Advocacy• Communications• Education• Research

The NRHA Offers…

Information Access:– Policy experts– Organization linkages– Congress– Federal Agencies– Publications– Conferences– Website:

www.NRHArural.org

History

• Founded in 1978 as the National Rural Primary Care Association.

• Reached 10,000 members in 2005.• Administrative Offices

in Kansas City, Missouri.• Government Affairs Offices

in Alexandria, Virginia.

The NRHA is:

• The voice for rural healthcare.• A 10,000 member non-partisan, non-

profit membership organization.• A source of information for

policymakers.• A trusted resource for State Rural

Health Associations.

• Highly regarded.

Organizational Structure

• Board of Trustees• Rural Health Policy Board• Standing Committees• Councils• Constituency Groups• Issue Groups

Constituency Groups and Councils

• Clinical Services• Community – Operated Practices• Frontier• Hospitals & Health Systems• Population-based Services

• Research and Education• Rural Health Clinics• Statewide Health Resources• Community Members• State Office Council• State Association Council

RURAL MEDICAL EDUCATORS (RME)

The RME Group is a special interest group of the Research and Education Constituency Group of the NRHA.

The Mission of the RME Group is:

To advance the training of physicians for rural practice through network development and advocacy.

Our Beginnings

• Group of Rural Physicians active in the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM)

• Partnering with the National Rural Health Association

First RME Annual Meeting

• May 2001 in conjunction with the NRHA Annual in Dallas, Texas.

• Over 70 attended this event• agenda for rural medical

education

Membership

• Physicians and Health Professionals from:– Academics– Rural Communities

• Administrators• Researchers• Students

2006

Organizational Structure

Core Member — "Voting Member"

• Member of the NRHA• Actively involved in rural education• Participate in at least one national

rural medical education related group meeting every two years

• Complete a core membership dataset annually

Associate Member — "Interested Party"

• NRHA membership is not required• Interested in Rural Medical

Education• Complete a limited membership

dataset annually

Affiliated Organizations

• State Rural Health Organizations• AAFP• STFM• AFPRD • Rural Research Centers• AHEC• State Offices of Rural Health• Office of Rural Health Policy• Others

Executive Committee• Past Co-Chair - John Wheat, MD, University of Alabama• Senior Co-Chair - Joe Florence, MD, East Tennessee State

University, • Junior Co-Chair - James G. Boulger, Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Medical School Duluth• Member-at-large - David Squire, Chief Financial Officer, Utah

Medical Education Council (UMEC)• Member-at-large - Don Pathman, MD, UNC Chapel Hill, Research

Director and Professor of the Department of Family Medicine • Membership Chair - Randy Longenecker, MD, Assistant Dean for

Rural Medical Education, The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health

• Education and Research Constituency Group Chair - Roxanna Jokela, director of Rural Health Education Network, University of Nebraska Medical Center

• staff support from the NRHA– Amy Elizondo, NRHA-VP, Program Services, – Jennifer Friedman, NRHA-VP of Government Affairs & Policy

Goals

• to foster collaboration among members and with a larger community of stakeholders

• to promote creativity and to generate new ideas in rural medical education

• to remain uncomplicated and adaptable to changing circumstance

Focus – Best Practices

• Pipeline• Curriculum

– Medical School– Residency

• Policy• Funding• Communications - Networking

Advocacy

• Promote Rural • Issues of Quality• Issues of Interdisciplinary• Issues of Need and Service to the

Underserved

Policy

• Issues of Rural Medical Education Funding – Balanced Budget Act– Grant Support (Title VII)

• Issues of Reimbursement– Medicare

• Issues of Placement – NHSC

Speakers Group

• Promoting “Rural” at regional and national conferences

Writer’s Group

• Focusing on – Pipeline– Curriculum

Networking and Communications

• Web Site – NRHA – Rural Medical Educators (RME)

http://www.nrharural.org/groups/sub/RME.html

– World of Rural Medical Education http://www.unmc.edu/Community/ruralmeded/indexRME.htm maintained by Robert C. Bowman, M.D.

• RME List Serve – bowman@unmc.edu maintained by Robert C. Bowman, M.D.

Annual Conference

"Responding to the Challenge of Providing Doctors for Rural America”

Tuesday, May 16, 2006Reno, Nevada

"TOUR OF RURAL MEDICAL EDUCATION"

Tour of Rural Medical Education 2006

2007 Conference

Rural Medical Educators Conference

May 15, 2007Anchorage, Alaska

In conjunction withNRHA Annual Conference; May 16-18,

2007; Anchorage, Alaska

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!

Rural Medical Educators