Alert

HRSA Releases PA Rural Training Program Notice of Funding Opportunity

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the new Primary Care Training and Enhancement – Physician Assistant Rural Training (PCTE-PAR) program. This funding, building upon $2 million in additional PCTE-PA awards made to 7 programs earlier this year, seeks to address both clinical training site shortages and workforce gaps in rural communities – two key priorities for PAEA. 

Program objectives that all grantees must meet are: 

  1. Provide PA students with longitudinal clinical training experiences for a minimum of 8 weeks in primary care in rural areas.  
  2. Educate and train primary care PAs to identify and address health inequities, health disparities, and social determinants of health in the communities they serve.  
  3. Develop and strengthen partnerships between academia, primary care delivery sites and systems, State Offices of Rural Health, the National Rural Health Association and community-based organizations to implement interprofessional rural clinical training experiences for primary care PA students.  
  4. Increase the number of preceptors to train PA students in rural primary care settings.  

Applicants are encouraged to address one of HHS’s and HRSA’s clinical priorities, including: 

  • Ending the crisis of opioid addiction and overdose in America; 
  • Improving mental health access and care; 
  • Transforming the health care system through value-based care delivery and quality improvement initiatives; 
  • Transforming the workforce –by targeting the need; and  
  • Strengthening health care access through telehealth.  

HRSA intends to make awards to 7 PA programs for this application cycle with an annual funding ceiling of $300,000. Awards will be made for five years for a project period of July 1, 2022-June 30, 2027. 

Applications for the PCTE-PAR program are due to HRSA by December 9, 2021. Members with questions about this funding opportunity are invited to contact Tyler Smith at tsmith@PAEAonline.org