The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently received $1.5 million in funding from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust that will fund a three-year pilot program to serve rural clinics throughout the state.
“We are extremely grateful to the Kenan Trust for funding work that will help improve the health of all North Carolinians, especially those suffering health disparities simply because they reside in rural areas,” Chancellor Carol Folt said in a press release. “By bringing together the specialized talents of faculty and students from across the Carolina community, we can make a positive impact in health care delivery.
The UNC Rural Interprofessional Health Initiative will be a collaborative effort between UNC’s health professions schools. It will send students from all of the schools to rural clinics throughout North Carolina, allowing them to serve rural communities as they learn.
“This collaboration will develop health professionals in rural settings,and will optimize interprofessional faculty efforts in cooperation with practicing clinicians in rural North Carolina,” School of Nursing Clinical Associate Professor Meg Zomorodi, who will serve as the director of Interprofessional Education through the UNC RIPHI, said in the release. “These efforts will yield shared curricula, support innovative clinical delivery models with population health management strategies, and generate a health profession pipeline for rural settings.”
