About Us

We are proudly committed to serving rural communities in West Virginia by

  • Coordinating rural health education and service opportunities across all WVU Health Sciences schools and programs in collaboration with the WV Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) including the management of houses for student use while on a rural rotation
  • Supporting students from all health professions in their rural-oriented education and outreach efforts
  • Establishing scholarship programs to support medical and dental students who commit to practice in rural West Virginia
  • Providing WVU School of Medicine Rural Track students financial and experiential support during enhanced training toward rural medical practice
  • Providing stipends for the WVU Department of Family Medicine’s Longitudinal Scholars Program for upcoming 1st year medical students and Summer Externship Program for upcoming 2nd year medical students interested in working with a preceptor at a rural site during the summer
  • Supporting health professionals that serve as preceptors for WVU students completing community rotations through financial and faculty development initiatives
  • Continually developing strategies and identifying opportunities to raise the health status of West Virginians in line with the WVU Health Sciences Strategic Plan

WVU educates the largest number of health professions students

  • WVU Health Sciences Center prepares students to excel in several health care professions
  • A substantial number of other programs in and outside of West Virginia send students to WVU healthcare sites for clinical training
  • Exposing students to rural communities as part of their education provides them with the opportunity to see the benefits of practicing in a rural area.

Rural rotations are vital to health professions education

  • Clinical rotations at rural sites can serve as a recruiting tool for communities
  • Interprofessional education experiences during rural rotations provide students with a training opportunity that prepares them to work as part of a care coordination team and address issues relevant to rural West Virginia
  • In 2023-2024, 863 WVU health professions students and residents from dentistry, dental hygiene, dietetics, exercise physiology, medicine, medical resident, nursing, nurse practitioner, pathology assistant, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and social work completed community-based rotations, with 675 of these rotations occurring in rural areas of the state.

Health students provide vital services in communities

  • Many students provide needed community service, education and prevention programs as part of their educational experience in rural communities
  • In 2023-2024, WVU collaborated with WV AHEC to coordinate 11 interprofessional team activities that included 77 students from physician assistant, behavioral health, medicine, pharmacy, public health, physical therapy, speech pathology, nursing and medical assistant. Health professionals from various disciplines joined the interprofessional teams. Activities addressed diabetes and periodontal, community health worker, integration of primary/oral health, provider advocacy, health inequities/disparities in rural communities, rural women’s health, social determinants of health, substance use prevention in adolescents and nutrition and food insecurity.