Rural medical training key to stronger healthcare in First Nations communities
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 19-Oct-2026 12:16 ET (19-Oct-2026 16:16 GMT/UTC)
Training doctors in rural and remote communities and embedding First Nations knowledge and leadership in medical education could be key to improving healthcare access and workforce sustainability in Australia, the United States and other underserved communities worldwide.
University students coming to Finland from outside the EU expect to receive education that serves as a bridge to meaningful work and to a better standard of living and a better life. The expectations are intertwined with neo-liberal ideals of a “good immigrant” who studies and works. The expectations both support students and appear as dehumanising demands to work more, better and harder while the life imagined keeps slipping further away.
A recent study conducted in 10 schools in Ghana tested a model for teacher professional development (TPD) based on mobile phone access to an online course. Regular professional learning community meetings supported the teachers. Meeting facilitators' modelling of participatory approaches, along with opportunities for discussion and questions, positively influenced teachers' engagement. Despite the relevance of the course content, teachers required support to access materials for professional purposes using their mobile phones.
In early 2026, the University of Chicago Press Journals Division became the first publisher to offer free journal access to Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) in the United States through a partnership with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). The initiative provides no-cost digital subscriptions to every journal in our program, ensuring our new and archival scholarship is available to the students and faculty served by these often-underfunded institutions.
AIHEC includes 37 TCUs that were created and chartered by their own Tribal government or the federal government to provide higher education opportunities to American Indians through programs that are locally based, holistic, and supportive. So far, we have provisioned access to more than ten institutions, and we are working with AIHEC as additional institutions opt in. This new program is an exceptional opportunity to build productive and collaborative relationships with institutions we were not previously reaching. Learn more about the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.
A new NSF-supported initiative will bring professional development and evidence-based teaching practices to faculty across SUNY, helping expand student success and retention in STEM fields. As part of a $2 million statewide collaboration, the project will provide training in learner-centered instruction, undergraduate research, AI-enabled teaching tools, and faculty mentoring networks. The effort aims to accelerate the adoption of proven teaching methods across SUNY and strengthen New York’s future STEM workforce.
FAU’s College of Education has received a $1.2 million grant to launch OWLS-Fly, a three-year initiative expanding access to free, family-centered mental health services for children ages 6 to 17 and their families in Palm Beach County. The program will prioritize underserved families, including those with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, while training graduate counseling students to address the mental health needs of youth with and without disabilities.