Background and purpose: Rural and underserved areas are in desperate need of improved access to healthcare services to enhance the well-being of patients. In an effort to increase students' healthcare access and exposure to the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals in this area, a specialized certificate program on the care of rural and underserved patients was created. The purpose of this article is to describe the design, implementation, and assessment of this program. Educational activity and setting: The Rural and Underserved Health Scholars Program (RUHSP) is offered to pharmacy and nursing students in the last three years of their professional program with 4 seminar courses and practice experiences in rural and underserved care. Students focus on challenges and opportunities in rural and underserved care, project development, health outcomes, leadership development, community service, and professional service. The culmination of the project is a community-based project the students develop in conjunction with a local agency. Findings: The RUHSP has successfully recruited 4 cohorts of students, totaling 42 participants. RUHSP participants have designed and implemented 13 community-based research projects through the program. Preliminary pre/post survey results indicate the program impacted participants' knowledge, skills, abilities, confidence, readiness, and interest in rural/underserved settings. Participants completing the program indicated the program was highly valued and impactful. Summary: Rural and underserved areas have a continued need for enhanced healthcare access and quality care; rural health training programs are one way to fill care gaps in these areas with confident, prepared, and passionate providers.

Background: Discovering methods of Residency Teaching Certificate Programs (RTCPs) will allow for collaboration in developing best practices to ensure both high quality of programming and outcomes for participants. Objective: The primary objective of this project is to describe and compare how RTCPs are conducted in the state of Ohio. Secondarily, to identify current practices in assessing RTCPs in both programmatic effectiveness and individual resident teaching outcomes. Methods: The seven coordinators of the seven Ohio RTCPs (n=7) were contacted via email and asked to participate in an IRB-approved interview, either in-person or telephonically. Standardized questions were developed to inquire about six categories of interest: demographics/background, administration/logistics, content, assessment of the resident, program financing, and program continuous quality improvement (COI). All seven programs participated in interviews. Data was coded by multiple members of the research team for presentation in aggregate form. Results: RTCPs include seminar days at the respective pharmacy colleges; however, the number, length, and content of seminars vary. The majority of programs (n=5) stated using inherited curriculum and materials passed down from previous coordinators. While each RTCP requires participants to submit a teaching portfolio, only three of seven programs assess the summative portfolios. All programs (n=7) award participants a certificate based on completion of requirements without a defined minimum performance standard. Two programs are collecting participant feedback after every session for CQI however no programs are completing an annual programmatic assessment of resident outcomes. The majority of coordinators (n=7) are interested in collaborating and sharing "best practices" between RTCPs in the state. Conclusions: Although published and available resources exist surrounding the development and delivery of RTCPs, in Ohio, their use varies greatly. The most striking outcomes highlighted the lack of resident and program assessment of outcomes in RTCPs. The research has brought forth ideas of ways to improve these programs through resident assessment, program assessment and also leads to reflection and innovation around the best way to deliver these programs.

Objective: Describe a mobile health clinic program led by pharmacists to provide services in a primary care shortage area. Methods: ONU HealthWise is a comprehensive pharmacy service offered by Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy with a mobile clinic initiated in 2015. ONU HealthWise is located in an HRSA-designated medically underserved and primary care shortage area and the mobile health clinic visits 11–18 locations monthly plus additional sites for screening or vaccinations. Medical residents from a health-system attend some locations and collaborative practice agreements allow pharmacists to initiate and adjust medications. Student pharmacists rotate through the mobile clinic to gain experiential training toward their Doctor of Pharmacy. The mobile clinic is an integral part of the learning and precepting for ONU HealthWise PGY-1 residents. Results: Over a 12-month period (July 2024–June 2025), the mobile clinic held 148 clinics across 7 rural counties in northwest Ohio. A total of 1265 screenings were conducted at 713 patient encounters (604 unique patients). Of the screenings, 38.1% of blood glucose, 21.6% of cholesterol, and 60.1% of blood pressures were abnormal. All abnormal tests resulted in either a medication adjustment, scheduled follow-up at future mobile clinic, or referral to a provider. Student pharmacists spent more than 3670 h on the mobile health clinic in experiential education. Conclusion: Pharmacists can be an integral healthcare provider by increasing access to primary care services through a mobile health clinic in a medically underserved area. The service provides learners with vital patient experiences.