Investigators: Erica Richman, PhD, MSW, Brianna Lombardi, PhD, MSW, Lisa de Saxe Zerden, PhD, MSW Background: Increasing aware­ness of the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) has prompted health systems to im­plement strat­egies to screen for and address pa­tient SDOH. These resources are valuable for health systems but do not speak to the workforce needed to implement… Read more »

Investigators: Mark Holmes, PhD, Paul Delamater, PhD Objective: A key issue in the urban-rural disparity policy debate is the use of different definitions of rural. This study sought to: (1) assess the degree to which rural definitions identify the same areas as rural; and (2) assess rural-urban disparities identified by each definition across socioeconomic, demographic, and health… Read more »

Investigators: Ryan Kandrack, PhD, Erin Fraher, PhD, Mark Holmes, PhD There is some evidence that primary care physicians in rural areas respond to the limited local supply of specialists by offering a broader array of clinical services than their urban colleagues. These studies suggest that there is “plasticity” in the scope of services provided by physicians…. Read more »

Investigators:  Cheryl B. Jones, PhD, RN; George Knafl, PhD; Meriel McCollum, BSN, RN, PhD student Overview: Although nurse workforce shortages are not new, concerns about a shortfall of nurses have increasingly intensified across healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to provide a baseline understanding of RN turnover through a cross-sectional… Read more »

Investigators: Nathalie Ortiz Pate, MPH, MHS, Hilary Barnes, PhD, Lorraine Anglin, MHS, Mara Sanchez, MMS, Heather Batchelder, MA, LPA, Christine Everett, Ph.D., Perri Morgan, Ph.D. Objective: Newly graduated nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) face challenges in adapting to their first jobs. Because of this, some organizations are instituting formal onboarding programs to support PAs and… Read more »

Principal Investigators: Erin Fraher, PhD, MPP; Jacob A. Rains MPH; Thomas J. Bacon DrPH; Julie Spero MSPH; Emily Hawes PharmD, BCPS, CPP Total Medicaid funds invested in graduate medical education (GME) increased from $3.78 billion in 2009 to $7.39 billion in 2022. States have considerable flexibility in designing Medicaid GME payments to address population health… Read more »

Investigators: Lisa de Saxe Zerden PhD, MSW; Erica Richman PhD MSW; Brianna Lombardi PhD, MSW Objective: Reports of burnout among the health workforce, particularly in relation to COVID-19, have expanded exponentially. However, burnout research often focuses on clinical providers such as nurses and doctors. Lower-paid, essential workers within health systems provide equally important, but often less lauded,… Read more »

Investigator: Donald Pathman, MD, MPH Objective: This study examined how the pandemic has affected clinicians that serve low-income, racial and ethnic minority communities through safety-net practices, including clinicians participating in the National Health Services Corps (NHSC). Methods: Using a national sample of safety-net health care practitioners (including physical, dental and behavioral health providers) across 20 states, the study… Read more »

Investigator: Tania Jenkins, PhD Objective: Burnout is a prominent and growing topic in the healthcare workforce literature. However, much of the research takes place at the individual level. This study used a novel socio-ecological framework adapted from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) systems model to examine the interplay between individual, institutional, professional, and… Read more »

Investigators: Brianna Lombardi, PhD, MSW, Lisa de Saxe Zerden, PhD, MSW, and Erin Fraher, PhD, MPP Rapid growth of social work degree programs, along with a diverse array of social work practice areas makes it is difficult to describe and count the social work profession. This project examines the data sources that could be used to… Read more »

Principal Investigator: Tania Jenkins, PhD While research on wellbeing and satisfaction in medicine has increased exponentially over the last ten years, much of this research has emphasized individual-level causes and interventions. Yet, individual-level approaches do little to address the broader structural factors that may be shaping physician satisfaction and wellbeing. A 2019 National Academies of Science,… Read more »

Principal Investigator: Jasmine Weiss, MD, MHS Increasing the diversity of the physician workforce is critical to addressing health disparities in the United States, particularly for Black Americans. This study will examine the role of undergraduate Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in increasing the representation of Black physicians in medical schools and ultimately the physician workforce.

Principal Investigators: Monisa Aijaz, MD, MPH, Valerie Lewis, PhD, Genevra Murray, PhD   COVID19 has caused dramatic changes to primary care access and delivery that present significant issues to the primary care workforce. First, primary care practices have cancelled large swaths of in person visits while working to rapidly implement telehealth. This is coupled with… Read more »

Investigator: Erin P. Fraher, PhD, MPP; Todd Jensen, PhD, MSW; Brianna Lombardi, PhD, MSW In a Year 10 study, we used latent class analysis (LCA) to describe the career typologies of primary care physicians (PCPs) in North Carolina which found that PCPs were sorted into four types of careers in 2009 and 2019 with high… Read more »

Investigators: Brianna Lombardi, Emily McCartha, Connor Sullivan, Erin Fraher Overview: Workplace violence is described by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide.”… Read more »