Rural Primary Care

From routine wellness care and sick visits to chronic disease management and injury follow-up, the practice of primary care requires a collaborative approach to patient care. To deliver complex, comprehensive care, providers must rely on a broad set of skills and the precise integration of behavioral and social sciences, basic procedural skills and the ability to coordinate care with specialists. This rapidly growing specialty is in need of skilled nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) trained to prevent, diagnose and treat a wide variety of pathologies in patients of all ages.

The Atrium Health Rural primary care Fellowship is a 12-month program designed to train the next generation of skilled nurse practitioners and physician assistants to provide high quality care for the lifespan, while becoming leaders in healthcare delivery and patient advocacy. Located in a rural NC clinic, this program highlights the provider's role in delivering culturally competent care and utilizing available resources in a rural community. For those interested in a metropolitan setting, we also offer a primary care fellowship track in Charlotte, NC.

Our rural primary care curriculum allows fellows to grow their skills in preventive care and complex disease management through:

• Didactic lectures and participation in team learning discussions
• Diverse clinical exposure to serve a broad range of patient populations
• Interprofessional collaboration to foster teamwork
• Evidence-based medicine to guide decision making

The rural primary care APP fellow will be immersed in the community setting, assessing the biological, clinical and behavioral needs of the individual patient and family. They will learn to navigate the healthcare system to provide appropriate referrals and order routine and urgent testing. Overall, the fellowship in rural primary care will prepare NPs and PAs to be well-rounded providers.

Rotations

Rural primary care APP fellows will practice at a primary training location, 4.5 days per week. One-week specialty rotations will be arranged over the course of the fellowship. These rotations may include but are not limited to:

• Behavioral health
• Occupational medicine
• Radiology
• Orthopedics
• ENT
• Urology
• Gynecology
• Dermatology
• Cardiology
• Neurology
• Pain management
• Oncology