@article{5ef6494554ef4b398ee70300277f89bd,
title = "The department of veterans affairs rural interprofessional faculty development initiative (RIFDI): A novel approach to expanding the rural workforce",
abstract = "The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration (VA) is an important source of health care in rural locations. The Veterans Access Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 authorized 1500 new graduate medical education positions in high need specialties and locations. Program implementation necessitated supporting clinicians representing multiple professions with the skills to build and sustain an interprofessional healthcare workforce training program. The VA Office of Academic Affiliations and the Office of Rural Health partnered to create the Rural Interprofessional Faculty Development Initiative (RIFDI), a curriculum focused on interprofessional education and practice, designed to prepare rural educators to create or enhance small, typically rural, geographically diverse training sites. Eighty-four health care providers, representing eight professions are enrolled or have completed the program. President Biden has characterized the initiative as innovative and directed the VA to launch a new joint initiative with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to add non-VA clinicians to the program in 2022.",
keywords = "Faculty development, Interprofessional education, Rural health, Veterans health administration",
author = "Klink, {Kathleen A.} and Fisher, {Amber K.} and Chiovaro, {Joseph C.} and Davila, {Jessica A.} and Stout, {Rebecca A.} and Albanese, {Anthony P.} and Bope, {Edward T.} and Sanders, {Karen M.}",
note = "Funding Information: The VA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) leads the VA's training mission, supporting clinical experiences for over 120,000 trainees from more than forty professions annually.7 OAA partnered with the VA Office of Rural Health (ORH) to create the Rural Interprofessional Faculty Development Initiative (RIFDI) to address the HCP shortages and identified faculty needs in rural areas.8.The faculty development literature supports development of programs in the workplace that extend over time and foster communities of practice that are supported by funding institutions, such as VA.10 Characteristics of successful interprofessional faculty development include institutional support, well-defined competency-based interprofessional objectives and outcomes, and a focus on consensus-building and group facilitation skills. Effective program designs have institution- and participant-specific characteristics and are flexible and adaptable as circumstances change. To advance the (relatively nascent) interprofessional faculty development evidence-base, assessment strategies should evaluate effective programmatic characteristics, especially those that improve collaborative care and optimal health outcomes.11 The newly developed VA RIFDI program incorporates the above-described characteristics.OAA identified 58 VA facilities that supported fewer than 20 full time equivalent GME positions and were therefore eligible to apply to become RIFDI participating sites.8 Eligible sites primarily serve a rural population as defined by the VA Office of Rural Health,12 and tended to be smaller with lower complexity. Faculty development opportunities were offered to practicing clinicians regardless of their profession. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",
year = "2023",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1016/j.xjep.2022.100590",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "30",
journal = "Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice",
issn = "2405-4526",
publisher = "Elsevier Inc.",
}