Welcome News: New HRSA Funding Opportunity
On November 13, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released a $4 million funding opportunity for PA training programs, called “Primary Care Training and Enhancement: Training Primary Care Champions.”
This is a unique opportunity for PA programs to establish and strengthen new and existing relationships with primary care clinical training sites and increase the clinician pipeline to community-based health centers.
The idea for the opportunity arose from the 11th Report of the Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry and is intended “to leverage funding streams to reduce barriers and foster programmatic collaboration.”
The awards of up to $400,000 per year over five years are aimed at strengthening primary care and the workforce by establishing fellowship programs to train community-based practicing primary care physicians and/or PA champions to lead health care transformation and enhance teaching in community-based settings.
Prospective PA program applicants must partner with community-based primary care sites such as community health centers, rural health clinics, and Indian Health Service sites. Additional partnerships are encouraged with local health departments, Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, Area Health Education Centers, AIDS Education and Training Centers, and Public Health Training Centers.
Successful PA program grantees must develop training for PAs who will teach in community-based settings and provide training in new competencies consistent with health care transformation principles. Paid fellowships may be awarded to participants of these programs. These fellows are required to provide clinical services at the primary care site through the course of the fellowship program.
The fellowship training program can be one to two years in duration. The minimum number of fellows per training period is four physicians or PAs for one-year programs and eight for two-year programs. PA fellows will be given priority status for future applications to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment program.
A technical assistance webinar has been scheduled for November 28 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. ET. To join, dial 1-888-972-6410, Code: 8968481, or visit this link.
A FAQ call is scheduled for December 18 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 p.m. ET. To join, dial 1-888-972-6410, Passcode: 8968481.
The deadline for applications is January 30, and more information can be found on the HRSA website.
