Training Providers in Underserved Areas: Rural Maternal Health Residency Track

Black women in rural communities face distinctive challenges that increase their risk of adverse maternal health outcomes. Rural Black women face a heightened risk of maternal morbidity and mortality due to shortage of hospitals and doctors, disproportionate rates of poverty, glaring health disparities, and persistent structural racism. Preventable causes of death that are common among rural Black women have been linked to health care provider and facility factors such as inadequate staff knowledge, system issues, and difficulties in care coordination.

Full-time clinical faculty at Morehouse School of Medicine and affiliated with the Center for Maternal Health equity are committed to providing high-quality care to underserved and minority women. We are creating a rural maternal health residency program aimed at expanding the maternal health workforce in Georgia. Residents will be embedded in rural communities and do rotations at our safety-net hospital. Medical education anchored in rural places, nourished, and funded through significant federal, state, and local community support, and meaningfully connected to both regional academic institutions and local physicians in practice has great potential to address both present and future needs for physicians who provide care to our rural populations.