Essentia offers nearly half a million hours of clinical training in latest fiscal year

Of the many challenges facing health systems, one of the most pressing involves workforce shortages. That's especially true in rural communities, where recruiting physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses and other medical professionals has become increasingly difficult.

Essentia Health is continuously looking for innovative solutions to this issue. Examples include our OB fellowship, the only one of its kind in Minnesota; the general surgery rural residency program that we collaborate on with the University of Minnesota; our leadership of the Duluth Family Medicine Residency Program; or the more than 20 academic practice partnerships we’ve developed to prepare the next generation of nurses.

Successful health systems need to create workforce pipelines to ensure the care they provide remains accessible. That is true today more than ever. It’s why Essentia invests so much time, energy and resources into nurturing relationships with future health care workers. From July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, we offered nearly 480,000 hours of clinical training to more than 2,700 students. These students are future providers, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, rad techs, surge techs and other professionals.

According to the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), nearly 20% of the state’s job openings in 2022 were in health care. And while the situation has improved, the MHA still reported a hospital vacancy rate of 17% in 2023, meaning that almost 1 in 5 hospital jobs was unfilled.

“We deeply value the vital role of clinical training in shaping our future health care workforce, and extend our appreciation to the dedicated Essentia Health colleagues who generously share their knowledge and expertise with students,” said Kate Dean, executive director of the Essentia Institute of Rural Health. “Nurturing and supporting these professionals ensures a brighter and healthier future for us all.”

Clinical training occurs across Essentia’s geographic service area. Students from a wide variety of colleges and universities are hosted at almost all of our hospitals and clinics, bringing future workers into the communities we serve and enhancing the prospective labor pool for these sites, many of which are in rural areas.

This investment in clinical training benefits Essentia Health, participating students and our patients and communities.

“I did my OB rotation at Essentia, and it is what inspired me to pursue the field,” said Dr. Karin Britta Knutson, an OB/GYN at Essentia who is heavily engaged with medical students. “I enjoy working with medical students and exposing them to the variety of special experiences in OB and GYN, which will inform the rest of their lives and careers.”