RRCC Receives Million Dollar Grant for Physician Assistant Students

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Wren Barnes
Director, Marketing and Communications
303-914-6260
Wren.Barnes@rrcc.edu
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2022

RRCC Receives Million Dollar Grant for Physician Assistant Students
Funding Will Support Meeting the Needs of Medically Underserved Communities

LAKEWOOD, CO - Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) recently received a grant in the amount of $951,247, awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

This five-year grant will provide 18-week longitudinal clinical rotations to Physician Assistant (PA) students throughout rural regions of Colorado with a goal to increase the numbers of PAs who practice primary care in rural communities post-graduation. Additionally, the RRCC PA Program will support the training and professional development of preceptors in rural areas. Both key activities will strengthen the primary care workforce by promoting primary care practice and enhancing training for both future and current primary care providers. Anticipated results include the expansion of the number of qualified PAs who practice primary care after graduation, which will address the statewide shortage of primary care providers and the urgent community need for primary care providers who are well-trained to meet the needs of rural Medically Underserved Communities (MUCs).

"This money will provide the college with the opportunities to grow our health services to the rural areas of Colorado and those citizens who have been underserved," says Dr. Michele Haney, President of RRCC.

The RRCC PA Program is the only Master’s degree-granting community college program in the United States, one of only four programs in Colorado preparing physician assistants, and the only program dedicated to preparing PAs for primary care practice. Annually, the program trains 32 PA students. The funding from HRSA will support eight (8) PA students annually (40 total) in completing 18-week longitudinal clinical rotations in primary care settings. The Rural Immersion Program will partner with four critical access hospitals/rural health clinics located in MUCs to provide student training. Further, the PA Program will partner with Colorado Rural Health Center, Colorado’s nonprofit State Office of Rural Health, to provide education and training to the partner rural clinics and preceptors.

As a result, the grant will increase the number of PAs who practice in rural primary care areas, enhance PA students’ knowledge and skills to provide culturally responsive and inclusive medicine and represent demographics reflective of the communities they serve, and strengthen the RRCC PA Program’s partnership with the Colorado Rural Health Center and rural primary care clinics across the state.

“Red Rocks Community College is committed to fulfilling its role in addressing community needs," says Angela King, the Executive Director of Institutional Advancement at RRCC. "This incredible funding opportunity allows us to continue our efforts with regional partners to address the statewide shortage of primary care providers and the urgent community need for primary care providers who are well-trained to meet the needs of rural Medically Underserved Communities.” 

About Red Rocks Community College
Established in 1969, Red Rocks Community College delivers high-quality, affordable education programs leading to degrees or professional certificates. The college serves over 10,000 students per year online and at campus locations in Lakewood and Arvada.  www.rrcc.edu.

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Monday, June 6, 2022