Primary Care Training and Enhancement: Physician Assistant Rural Training in Behavioral Health (PCTE-PARB) Program | HRSA 24 019

Opportunity Information: Apply for HRSA 24 019

The Primary Care Training and Enhancement: Physician Assistant Rural Training in Behavioral Health (PCTE-PARB) Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designed to expand and strengthen physician assistant (PA) training in rural communities by building longer, immersive clinical rotations that combine primary care with behavioral health services. The core requirement is that funded programs develop clinical rotations for primary care PA students in rural settings that last at least three months. The intent is to move beyond brief observational experiences and instead create sustained, hands-on training placements where PA students can learn how behavioral health care is delivered as part of everyday primary care practice in underserved rural environments.

A central focus of the program is preparing PA students to competently address behavioral health conditions across the full continuum of care. This includes prevention and early intervention, recognizing and identifying behavioral health needs, performing appropriate assessment and diagnosis, initiating evidence-based treatment in primary care, and making effective referrals when patients require specialty services or higher levels of care. The program is also explicitly aligned with substance use disorder response efforts, emphasizing training that supports treatment of opioid use disorder, including experience related to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). In practical terms, the grant supports building rural training pipelines where students gain confidence integrating behavioral health screening, brief interventions, coordinated care, and follow-up into routine primary care workflows, which is especially important in rural areas where specialty behavioral health services may be limited.

Eligibility is narrow and targeted to ensure funding supports established PA education programs with appropriate academic oversight and accreditation. Only academically affiliated physician assistant training programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) may apply. The eligible applicant categories listed include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and other entities that meet the program requirements, but the accreditation and academic affiliation condition is the deciding factor. Applicants must be located in an eligible U.S. jurisdiction, including the United States and specified territories and freely associated states: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

From a funding standpoint, this opportunity is a grant (not a contract) under the health funding activity category, associated with CFDA number 93.884. The funding opportunity number is HRSA-24-019. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $415,000, and HRSA anticipates making approximately 12 awards. The opportunity was created on December 15, 2023, and the original application closing date was March 15, 2024. Overall, the program is structured to increase the rural workforce capacity by graduating more PAs who are specifically trained to deliver integrated primary care and behavioral health services, including opioid use disorder treatment capabilities, in the communities that most need them.

• The Health Resources and Services Administration in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Primary Care Training and Enhancement: Physician Assistant Rural Training in Behavioral Health (PCTE-PARB) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.884.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $415,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for HRSA 24 019

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