Rural Residency Planning and Development Program - The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine–Knoxville (UTHSC COM-Knoxville), in partnership with the University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) and Starr Regional Medical Center, proposes to develop a new ACGME-accredited Rural Family Medicine Residency Program through HRSA’s Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program. The program will strengthen the physician workforce pipeline serving rural East Tennessee communities, particularly McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Polk, and Rhea Counties, which experience persistent shortages of primary care providers, maternal health disparities, behavioral health needs, and barriers to healthcare access. The residency will utilize a rural track model in which residents complete more than 60% of training in CMS/FORHP-designated rural settings centered at Starr Regional Medical Center in Athens, Tennessee. Starr Regional will serve as the primary rural training site while UTHSC COM-Knoxville and UTMC will provide sponsoring institution oversight, graduate medical education infrastructure, faculty support, and specialty training. Additional partnerships with outpatient, inpatient, behavioral health, pediatric, and specialty providers will support comprehensive rural family medicine education. Project objectives are to: (1) obtain ACGME accreditation; (2) matriculate the inaugural resident cohort by July 2027; (3) establish a long-term sustainability plan supported through Medicare GME funding and institutional investment; and (4) implement graduate tracking and workforce outcome reporting. The program will initially operate with a 2-2-2 cohort structure (six residents total). During the three-year project period, HRSA funding will support accreditation, curriculum development, faculty and resident recruitment, educational infrastructure, sustainability planning, and program implementation. The curriculum will include longitudinal rural immersion, integrated behavioral health, telehealth, interprofessional education, oral health integration, Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS), Lifestyle Medicine, and public health emergency preparedness. Expected outcomes include ACGME accreditation, enrollment of the inaugural resident cohort, a sustainable rural physician workforce pipeline, and improved access to family medicine services across rural East Tennessee.
