Physicians

Current Projects

• Barriers and Facilitators to Providing Rural Clinical Training for Health Professions Students and Residents
  Scarce rural clinical training sites are the top barrier preventing medical schools, residencies, and nurse practitioner and physician assistant education programs, among other health professional training programs, from providing rural training to their students. This study aims to describe the barriers to offering rural clinical training and the potential solutions for establishing and sustaining interdisciplinary rural clinical training.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Healthcare access, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physician assistants, Physicians, Workforce
  
• Disparities in Screening, Prevention, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Rural and Urban Primary Care
  This study will use a large national primary care registry to compare cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening, prevention, and management quality measures between rural and urban primary care practices. It will also assess for disparities by patient composition of the practice.
  Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
  Topics: Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Physicians, Quality
  
• Geographic Misclassification of Cancer Care Physicians and Rural Cancer Care Service Delivery Patterns
  This study will examine the potential misclassification of rural cancer care capacity by quantifying the degree to which classification by primary practice location underestimates the availability of cancer care services in rural areas when urban-based physicians regularly cross geographic boundaries to serve rural populations.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Cancer, Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Rural statistics and demographics, Workforce
  
• Rural and Urban Medical School Programs that Demonstrate a Commitment to Producing Rural Physicians
  Studies of individual medical schools have identified characteristics associated with working in rural areas, but little is known about which organizational factors are the most significant predictors of rural practice. This project will examine characteristics of medical schools' missions and organizational commitments to promote physician practice in rural communities.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Workforce
  
• Rural Dementia Spending and Workforce Supply
  This project will estimate the rural and urban supply of dementia care specialists in the U.S. and examine differences health care spending patterns for dementia across the rural-urban continuum using claims and facility records data.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Health services, Healthcare access, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physicians, Workforce
  
• Rural-Urban Differences in Provider Counseling About Physical Activity Among U.S. Adults
  This study examines rural-urban differences in health professional counseling about physical activity among U.S. adults, using NHIS data (2020-2024). It explores how advice relates to meeting activity guidelines and whether differences vary by age, chronic condition prevalence, and other factors.
  Research center: Northeast Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Children and adolescents, Chronic diseases and conditions, Health promotion and disease prevention, Healthcare access, Obesity, Physicians, Public health
  
• The Emerging Landscape of Rural Family Medicine Residency Training: Defining Models and Assessing Their Value
  Rural residency training options for family physicians are growing, as is the evidence for rural training in promoting rural practice choice. This study aims to use a new classification of six residency program types to describe and quantify programs and positions by type and compare relative effectiveness in producing rural physicians.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Workforce
  
• Use of Z Codes by Rural and Urban Providers to Capture Data on the Social Determinants of Health Impacting Medicare Beneficiaries
  Using a mixed methods approach, we will examine the use of Z codes by rural and urban providers to better capture information on the social determinants of health experienced by Medicare beneficiaries across the rural continuum.
  Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health services, Medicare, Physicians, Social determinants of health
  
• Variation in Scope of Practice and Services Provided by Rural vs Urban Primary Care Providers
  This project will examine differences in practice patterns between rural and urban primary care providers by analyzing insurance claims data to determine variations in the density and intensity of services provided directly by primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants across different geographic settings.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physician assistants, Physicians, Workforce