VA expands women’s health expertise in rural areas through specialized training programs
Women Veterans are choosing VA for their health care more than ever before. Today, over 1 million women Veterans are enrolled in VHA—a 38% increase since 2017. With this growth comes an ongoing demand for primary care teams who understand women Veterans’ health care needs. The demand is especially high in rural and highly rural areas, where more than one in four women Veterans receive their VA health care. To meet this growing need, VA is expanding access to women’s health expertise in rural communities so women Veterans can receive high-quality women-specific primary care close to home.
VHA’s Office of Women’s Health and Office of Rural Health have continued their partnership of a workforce training program—the Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency for Primary Care Providers and Nurses—to help primary care teams strengthen their women’s health skills.
Bringing training directly to rural clinics
For many rural clinics, sending staff off-site for multi-day training can disrupt patient access to care. The Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency solves this challenge by pairing online learning with hands-on women’s health training brought directly to rural VA clinics by a mobile training team.
The program includes:
- Online learning: Primary care teams complete 10 hours of women’s health courses covering topics like contraception, abnormal uterine bleeding, breast issues, cervical cancer screening, menopause, post-deployment care and more.
- Onsite, training day: Primary care teams participate in a full day of immersive case discussions, hands-on instruction and skills-based stations tailored to common clinical scenarios. They benefit from a unique experience with a Gynecologic Teaching Associate (GTA), a specially-trained woman who uses her body for breast and pelvic exams, and are guided with feedback to ensure exams are performed safely, respectfully and with trauma-informed approaches.
This model of training aligns well with the Women’s Health Patient Aligned Care Team (WH-PACT) model where providers and nurses learn together side-by-side just as they work together as a team.
Nationwide impact that continues to grow
Since its development in 2017 and national launch in 2018, the Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency has become an impactful, rural, workforce-training initiative in VHA with:
- 275 trainings delivered.
- 2,170 VA primary care providers and nurses trained.
- 409 VA clinical sites reached, most in rural or highly rural areas.
- 71 VA Healthcare Systems engaged.
The program’s impact reaches well beyond the training room. Among primary care providers trained in the Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency between fiscal year (FY) 2018 – FY 2024, the percentage designated as Women’s Health Primary Care Providers (WH-PCPs) nearly doubled, increasing from 42% to 77%. All VA Healthcare Systems have at least one WH-PCP, and by FY 2024, 90% of rural VA clinics had at least one WH-PCP onsite. These gains strengthen readiness of primary care teams and help rural clinics meet the needs of the growing number of women Veterans choosing VHA for health care.
As a primary care provider said after the training, “This whole course taught me more than I learned in my training to better care for women. I am well prepared now for women’s health care.”
Better access, better care
The Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency not only advances provider and nurse women’s health expertise but also enhances rural women Veterans’ access to essential services. These include cervical cancer screening, contraception, menopause treatments and breast care, all of which have become more challenging to access in rural areas by the general public with fewer women’s health providers. However, these services are available for women Veterans who receive their care from WH-PCPs and nurses in VA. This is important because when women Veterans receive care from VHA WH-PCPs, they consistently experience higher quality women-specific care and greater patient satisfaction.
Approximately 40 Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency trainings are held each year in an effort to strengthen and expand the women’s health workforce across rural VHA sites.
Increasing access for rural women Veterans
Improving women Veterans health care access across rural America remains a top priority for VA. At a time when many rural regions face shortages of obstetrician-gynecology services, ensuring that rural VA primary care teams have the expertise to deliver comprehensive women’s health care is essential. The Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency is doing just that while giving primary care providers and nurses the skills and confidence they need to care for women Veterans—and bringing care closer to home.
Learn more
Learn more about care for women Veterans.
For information on VA health care including, eligibility, enrolling or setting up a medical appointment, and to get connected with your local VA Medical Center’s Women Veteran Program Manager, call or text the Women Veterans Call Center at 1-855-VA-WOMEN (1-855-829-6636) or use the online chat feature.
For questions about the Rural Women’s Health Mini-Residency, contact WHRMRTeam@va.gov.
