National Center for Rural Health Professions

The NCRHP at the UIC Health Sciences Campus-Rockford strives to meet the health care needs of rural residents and their communities in Illinois, around the nation and throughout the world. Approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education since 2003, this University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford center has programs and collaborative partnerships that have become successful models for education, service, research and policy related to rural health involving multiple health professions.

The NCRHP is home to the Rural Health Professions (RHP) Program and the Illinois Area Health Education Centers Network (AHEC) Program, Native American Pathways Program, and Student Pipeline Programs, which are committed to recruiting and retaining the next generation of rural health professionals. Additionally, NCRHP has many Global Health Partnerships and serves as the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Medical Education and Primary Health Care, one of three Centers in North America. NCRHP Faculty and Staff have expertise in rural health issues, research advocacy, and education.

OUR HISTORY

The National Center for Rural Health Professions (NCRHP) is an Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) approved academic, community-based, and research center designed to address the needs of rural and underserved communities and populations. The roots of the NCRHP are in the nationally and internationally recognized Rural Medical Education (RMED) Program of the University of Illinois – Rockford, which was established in 1993 as a means to identify, recruit, and prepare young people to become doctors who would graduate and return to rural and underserved communities to practice.

The NCRHP approach and philosophy not only has been endorsed by the IBHE but is recognized internationally by such organizations as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and Network: Towards Unity for Health, a 40-year-old international collaboration of academic institutions and community-based providers devoted to identifying and addressing the needs of communities and populations worldwide. The NCRHP also has student and faculty exchange research and education programs with Maastricht University (Netherlands), Princess of Naradhiwas University (Thailand), University of Skovde (Sweden), and University of Aberdeen (Scotland).

The NCRHP is a constantly evolving organization building on principles established 20 years ago – with an emphasis on social accountability and serving as a resource in meeting the needs of both rural populations and communities. Future directions include bringing in rural dentistry, nutrition, and physical therapy to the Center, expanding international partnerships and development of an invested professorship in interprofessional education and research as well as contributing to develop policy statements that can be used in improving rural outcomes related to access to and quality of care for rural people.

OUR IMPACT

Nearly 75% of RMED graduates go into practice in rural communities upon completion of residency training. Additionally, the RMED Program model is applicable to other settings outside the state of Illinois. The success of the RMED Program triggered the development of a more expansive initiative that would integrate rural medicine with pharmacy, nursing, public health, and social work. The National Center for Rural Health Professions, established in 2003, addresses interprofessional health care education and research. The focus is on a team-based approach in learning and rural health care delivery. All disciplines and providers bring a unique perspective to the table where collaboration is key to meeting the needs of rural people and their communities.