The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) received a $1,328,304 federal Project Grant award from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) under the Primary Care Training and Enhancement (PCTE) program (CFDA 93.884). The funding will support UMB's PARTNER Initiative, which aims to increase the number of primary care physician assistants (PAs) practicing in rural Maryland through enhanced rural training opportunities and a preceptor development program.
Key objectives of the 5-year initiative include: 1) Enhancing the preparedness of PA students for rural primary care practice through curriculum and clinical rotations focused on behavioral health, 2) Expanding integrated longitudinal primary care rotations in rural Maryland counties, 3) Developing a pool of rural PA preceptors through a statewide preceptor academy, and 4) Evaluating and disseminating lessons learned. Over the grant period, the program plans to double the number of rural training sites, provide 300 trainees with integrated behavioral health rotations, and graduate 50 preceptors from the academy. This initiative aims to build a sustainable behavioral health workforce to serve rural communities in Maryland.