All Articles: Rural

Following a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) that mapped pharmacy access gaps across the state, the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy is digging deeper to understand the reason behind closures and impacts on community health.

Occupational therapy students at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy continually demonstrate the critical role that OT can play in the health of rural Minnesotans. 

Community emerging practice has been a part of the OT program for over a decade, bringing students to sites across the state where they build critical relationships and offer insights that improve barriers in the environments around them.

Despite the 7.7 million nonmetropolitan residents who reported having a mental illness and more than 16% of U.S. adults who reported taking prescription medication to help with mental health in 2023, access to medical and mental health services remains significantly limited. This is the backdrop to the recent pause in the College of Pharmacy’s longstanding partnership with the Human Development Center, a certified community behavioral health clinic serving northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Every eight weeks, pharmacists from rural practice settings across Minnesota gather to tackle barriers to integrating pharmacists and MTM services into rural health systems. The workgroup offers a virtual space for practitioners to find resources, give each other guidance, and bring forward questions

Two new College of Pharmacy programs will place pharmacy students in both rural and underserved urban communities for extended work as part of their fourth-year Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) rotations

Through a partnership with the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH), occupational therapy (OT) students from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy are working to improve the wellness of farmers in the state.