Services
RMTC offers a host of tools, technical assistance and knowledge sharing through free and fee-based services to individuals and organizations.
Community Capacity Tool:
Often the first step is to determine the community capacity for residency education. RMTC offers a free tool affectionately named “TREES” (Training and Rural Health Professions Education that is Community Engaged and Sustainable). This was developed in 2016 in collaboration with Western Montana Family Medicine Residency funded in large part by a HRSA Residency Training in Primary Care grant #D58HP23226. The tool has been refined in use over the past seven years.
Consultation Services:
As a network of programs and individuals with experience in professional education and health practices in rural areas, one of our most important assets is the distributed knowledge and technical expertise through formal and information consultation services.
RMTC and its peer consultants bring deep knowledge on matters of accreditation, finance, governance and community engagement to the task of rural residency program development. A design consult and paired peer visit – either in person or online – is the first step. We offer:
Video conference consultations and targeted technical assistance:
$450/hour
- Assistance clarifying options for rural residency finance, accreditation, and governance
- Grant application review
- Review of application for accreditation
- Mock ACGME site visits
- Ongoing coaching and mentoring
Online consultation package
$15,000*
For residency programs early in development to explore a community’s purpose in developing a rural residency or rural track in medical or other health professions’ school; clarify the rules of accreditation and finance as applied to rural programs; review community assets and capacity; discuss core design elements and their implications for accreditation, finance and governance; prepare high-level financial modeling and recommendations for next steps. This package includes:
- Three to four 60 – 180-minute video consults conducted over 1 week to 3 months
- Summary report within 30 days
In-person visit and consultation package
Starts at $20,000*
For developing of established programs, RMTC offers in-person visit and consultations which refines the items listed above and includes:
- Preparatory videoconference
- Onsite one to four-day visit to one or multiple sites
- Appropriate follow-up video visits
- Summary report within 30 days
Negotiated Contacts and Services
RMTC is happy to customize our services to meet your specific needs, whether in preparation for a grant application or for a particular project that requires a unique deliverable.
* Participating programs who pay an annual fee to be a part of our cooperative are offered a discount on billable services.
Request Services
Ready to get started? Request a free, non-binding 15-30-minute call.
Meet Our Consultants
Each of our consultants has personal experience in the design, development, and direction of rural residency programs and as such is a “near-peer” to others engaged in the same work.
Most consultations operate in pairs, matching our expertise with community needs.
David Schmitz, MD
Areas of Expertise: Community Engaged Medical Education; Coalition Building and Alignment of Resources; Resource Assessment and Strategic Planning; Faculty Development; Curriculum and Accreditation.
David Schmitz, MD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He has served as program director for RTTs in Idaho and currently is chair for two RTTs. His experience in performing consultations for RTT development spans over 10 years and 12 states. Additionally, David has research expertise in training and retaining physicians in rural areas. He continues to practice clinically in Grand Forks.
David Smith, MD
Area of Expertise: Helping Communities to Decide If and Where They Should Start an RTT, Using a Longitudinal Curriculum in an RTT, Optimally Planning the Schedule to Maximize GME Funding, and Identifying Multiple Funding Streams to Reduce Reliance on Government Funding.
Following 6 years of rural practice in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Dr. Smith has enjoyed a 32-year career as faculty in family medicine residency programs around the country. His academic niche has been preparing graduates for rural practice. He created three 1+2 rural training track programs in Wisconsin, an outpatient rural track in South Carolina, and another 1+2 rural training track in Colorado. Currently, he is an associate program director for the North Colorado Family Medicine 1+2 rural training tracks utilizing Sterling and Wray for the rural years of training.
Keri Bergeson, MD
Areas of Expertise: ACGME Application and Accreditation, Mock Site Visits, Curriculum Design, Community Engaged Medical Education, Resident Recruitment, Faculty Development
Keri Bergeson is first and foremost a full spectrum family doctor. She spent nine years as a rural family physician and during that time founded a rural training program in partnership with the University of Washington. She currently serves as the Director of Rural Programs for the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health helping to expand rural GME in the state of Minnesota. She is also the associate director of the Rural Medical Training Collaborative and a passionate advocate for place based education in medical training. She has supported and advised numerous rural programs across the country.
Lori Rodefeld, MS
Areas of Expertise: Development of Rural Training Programs in Family Medicine, Psychiatry, OBGYN, and Surgery; Accreditation Application Development and Review; Mock Site Visits; Scenario Planning; Health Center Planning and Development; Resident Recruitment and NRMP Exception Strategies.
Lori is the Director of the Rural GME Development for a statewide GME collaborative in Wisconsin (WCRGME) and the Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) and Teaching Health Center Planning and Development (THCPD) Technical Assistance Centers. She supports the efforts of over 25 rural GME programs in Wisconsin including programs in Family Medicine, OBGYN, Surgery, Psychiatry, and Internal Medicine. Her career in GME started at the SSM Monroe Hospital where she led efforts to grow the first family medicine program in Wisconsin in over 20 years as well as two fellowship programs. She has advised and supported numerous programs through the various stages of program planning, accreditation, and development.
Melissa Stevens, MA
Areas of Expertise: Rural GME Program Planning, Development and Accreditation; GME Program Development, Administration and Accreditation; Grant Development and Review; Mock Site Visits; Program Administrator Development.
Melissa is the Rural Training Programs Administrator at the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health with the responsibility for providing planning and development technical assistance and support for rural education initiatives. Her medical education administration experience spans more than 20 years in multiple specialties. She has served as a residency program administrator as well as the education manager for a large cohort of undergraduate and graduate medical educational programs.
Randall Longenecker, MD
Area of Expertise: Community Engagement, Organic Residency Program Design, Longitudinal and Emergent Curricula, Rural GME Accreditation, Finance, and Governance, Research in Rural Medical Education including a Data Set of Rural Programs over the past 25 years.
Dr. Longenecker practiced comprehensive family medicine, including maternity care, for 30 years in west-central Ohio, 15 of those as Program Director of a rural training track in family medicine. He is an advisor for the Rural Residency Planning and Development Technical Assistance Center. He was the founder and for more than 9 years the Executive Director of The RTT Collaborative, providing technical assistance to developing and existing programs, and pursuing research in rural health professions education and training. He continues as an advisor and consultant, and as a Board member of GME Transformation in retirement.
David Schmitz, MD
Areas of Expertise: Community Engaged Medical Education; Coalition Building and Alignment of Resources; Resource Assessment and Strategic Planning; Faculty Development; Curriculum and Accreditation.
David Schmitz, MD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He has served as program director for RTTs in Idaho and currently is chair for two RTTs. His experience in performing consultations for RTT development spans over 10 years and 12 states. Additionally, David has research expertise in training and retaining physicians in rural areas. He continues to practice clinically in Grand Forks.
David Smith, MD
Area of Expertise: Helping Communities to Decide If and Where They Should Start an RTT, Using a Longitudinal Curriculum in an RTT, Optimally Planning the Schedule to Maximize GME Funding, and Identifying Multiple Funding Streams to Reduce Reliance on Government Funding.
Following 6 years of rural practice in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Dr. Smith has enjoyed a 32-year career as faculty in family medicine residency programs around the country. His academic niche has been preparing graduates for rural practice. He created three 1+2 rural training track programs in Wisconsin, an outpatient rural track in South Carolina, and another 1+2 rural training track in Colorado. Currently, he is an associate program director for the North Colorado Family Medicine 1+2 rural training tracks utilizing Sterling and Wray for the rural years of training.
Keri Bergeson, MD
Areas of Expertise: ACGME Application and Accreditation, Mock Site Visits, Curriculum Design, Community Engaged Medical Education, Resident Recruitment, Faculty Development
Keri Bergeson is first and foremost a full spectrum family doctor. She spent nine years as a rural family physician and during that time founded a rural training program in partnership with the University of Washington. She currently serves as the Director of Rural Programs for the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health helping to expand rural GME in the state of Minnesota. She is also the associate director of the Rural Medical Training Collaborative and a passionate advocate for place based education in medical training. She has supported and advised numerous rural programs across the country.
Lori Rodefeld, MS
Areas of Expertise: Development of Rural Training Programs in Family Medicine, Psychiatry, OBGYN, and Surgery; Accreditation Application Development and Review; Mock Site Visits; Scenario Planning; Health Center Planning and Development; Resident Recruitment and NRMP Exception Strategies.
Lori is the Director of the Rural GME Development for a statewide GME collaborative in Wisconsin (WCRGME) and the Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) and Teaching Health Center Planning and Development (THCPD) Technical Assistance Centers. She supports the efforts of over 25 rural GME programs in Wisconsin including programs in Family Medicine, OBGYN, Surgery, Psychiatry, and Internal Medicine. Her career in GME started at the SSM Monroe Hospital where she led efforts to grow the first family medicine program in Wisconsin in over 20 years as well as two fellowship programs. She has advised and supported numerous programs through the various stages of program planning, accreditation, and development.
Melissa Stevens, MA
Areas of Expertise: Rural GME Program Planning, Development and Accreditation; GME Program Development, Administration and Accreditation; Grant Development and Review; Mock Site Visits; Program Administrator Development.
Melissa is the Rural Training Programs Administrator at the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health with the responsibility for providing planning and development technical assistance and support for rural education initiatives. Her medical education administration experience spans more than 20 years in multiple specialties. She has served as a residency program administrator as well as the education manager for a large cohort of undergraduate and graduate medical educational programs.
Randall Longenecker, MD
Area of Expertise: Community Engagement, Organic Residency Program Design, Longitudinal and Emergent Curricula, Rural GME Accreditation, Finance, and Governance, Research in Rural Medical Education including a Data Set of Rural Programs over the past 25 years.
Dr. Longenecker practiced comprehensive family medicine, including maternity care, for 30 years in west-central Ohio, 15 of those as Program Director of a rural training track in family medicine. He is an advisor for the Rural Residency Planning and Development Technical Assistance Center. He was the founder and for more than 9 years the Executive Director of The RTT Collaborative, providing technical assistance to developing and existing programs, and pursuing research in rural health professions education and training. He continues as an advisor and consultant, and as a Board member of GME Transformation in retirement.
