# The VA Rural Interprofessional Faculty Development Initiative: a qualitative evaluation guided by the RE-AIM framework

## TL;DR

This study evaluates a VA program that trains rural healthcare educators, showing it improves skills and builds professional networks.

## Contribution

The study provides a qualitative evaluation of a rural faculty development program using the RE-AIM framework.

## Key findings

- Participants reported improved educational expertise and networking through the program.
- Institutional support and blended learning were key to program adoption and success.
- Skills and relationships from the program were maintained long after completion.

## Abstract

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rural Interprofessional Faculty Development Initiative (RIFDI) is a longitudinal, multimodal training program designed to improve the quality of and capacity for health professions education in rural areas. This study evaluated RIFDI using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, with the intent of informing future implementation of this and similar faculty development programs.

In this descriptive qualitative study, we interviewed RIFDI participants from four program cohorts at different stages of completion. We analyzed data using rapid qualitative analysis and synthesized findings along domains corresponding to the RE-AIM framework.

Forty-one participants completed 49 interviews at mid-program (n = 21), program end (n = 16), and/or post-program (n = 12). Reach: Most participants learned about and joined RIFDI via nomination by their site’s educational leadership. Participants were motivated to join by the professional-development opportunity and/or their existing involvement or interest in health professions education. Effectiveness: Participants reported improved educational expertise, practice, networking, and institutional knowledge. Adoption: Participants perceived leadership support, or lack thereof, and institutional barriers influenced program adoption at their site. Implementation: RIFDI’s diverse curriculum was largely perceived as successful in developing professional competencies and networks. Program implementation was aided by blended learning, skilled facilitators, and a collaborative learning environment. Maintenance: Participants interviewed 12 months or more post-program reported continued use of acquired knowledge and skills, lasting relationships, and professional opportunities.

RIFDI presents a promising model for interprofessional faculty development in distributed healthcare settings. Its curriculum of didactic, experiential, and collaborative learning provides multiple opportunities for teaching knowledge and skills development and building a community of practice. This study emphasized the importance of institutional support and context in fostering program reach and adoption, and the value of interprofessional networks and blended learning in augmenting program effectiveness, implementation, and maintenance.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-08549-x.