The Rural Health Transformation Grant in 2026 is a collaborative project between NDSU School of Nursing and rural health clinics and hospitals across North Dakota. The North Dakota Rural Advanced Practice Provider (RAPP) Residency program provides newly graduated advanced practice providers (APPs) additional intensive training and learning opportunities. The purpose of the grant is to better prepare new APP graduates for rural practice and enhance job satisfaction and retention. The first residents begin the program in October 2026.
Focus areas
- Rural clinical readiness
- Behavioral health
- Resiliency and burnout prevention
For more information contact mykell.barnacle@ndsu.edu
Structure
- New graduate APPs hired into full-time positions within the past 18 months. The grant provides employers with $20,000 in salary support to offset the cost of resident participation in educational training days.
- Twenty educational residency days during which residents focus on learning rather than patient care, including didactic instruction, procedural workshops, and specialty observation experiences. Specialty clinical rotations based on resident needs and interests.
- In person and virtual educational opportunities related to focus areas and other complex clinical challenges for rural APPs.
Qualifications
- Candidates: Graduates of ANY* APP (nurse practitioner or physician associate) program who have obtained a certification and license to practice no longer than 18 months before the start of the fellowship program, with a commitment to practice in a rural area. *Graduates do not have to be NDSU graduates.
- Newly graduated APPs hired by in rural, underserved areas in ND will be eligible for the residency program each year.
- Unlike most residency programs that have an application process, residents are selected by identified rural health clinics in ND.
