Wisconsin Rural Physician Residency Assistance Program (WRPRAP)
The goal of the Wisconsin Rural Physician Residency Assistance Program (WRPRAP) is to train more physicians to meet Wisconsin’s rural workforce needs by funding opportunities targeting and prioritizing educational activities for new physicians in rural Wisconsin communities.
WRPRAP promotes collaboration among Wisconsin health systems, residency and fellowship programs, and state agencies that aim to enhance rural graduate medical education (GME) and make rural Wisconsin a healthier place to live, work, and play.
WRPRAP helped establish and fund the Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural GME (WCRGME) to provide technical assistance to our rural communities. WRPRAP and WCRGME provide information and resources to organizations interested in initiating or continuously improving Wisconsin GME programs and tracks with a rural focus.
Grant Application Deadlines
Fall: September 14, 2026
Spring: February 8, 2027
We encourage submitting grant renewal applications in September.
Accepting funding requests for rural rotations* on an ongoing basis, pending available funding.
*Rural Rotations: at least eight weeks of continuous or cumulative training. Funding can only be used for supporting operational costs of the rural rotation. Refer to Rural GME Operational Grants for more information.
Funding Opportunities
WRPRAP aims to expand and enhance rural graduate medical education (GME) opportunities that prepare residents to practice in rural Wisconsin communities.
Funding priorities are ranked by the following criteria:
- Curriculum that is rural focused, but does not take place at a rural site
- Programs that put residents in rural areas for residency – rural tracks and eligible rotations
- Programs that actively facilitate and support rural tracks and rotations
- Curriculum that takes place at a rural site that enhances the training and experience
Rural GME Operational Grants
The Rural GME Operational Fund supports quality improvement and continuation of current rural GME programs. Activities may include rural rotations*, curriculum development, and technical assistance for rural residency programs.
*Operational grants may support salary, fringe, and mileage payments directly to a resident’s employer to cover costs of an eight-week rural rotation. Applications for rural rotations are accepted and awarded on an ongoing basis, pending available funding.
Rural GME Transformational Grants
The Rural GME Transformational Fund finances initiatives to develop and evaluate innovative rural GME programs, to determine and validate appropriate GME performance measures, and to award new WRPRAP-funded GME training positions in eligible disciplines.
Program Leadership
Annual Report
Annually on December 1, WRPRAP submits a legislatively mandated report to the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. The report is subsequently submitted to partner organizations represented by the board members of the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education & Workforce Development (WCMEW) and other partners, including the Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin Medical Society, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, St. Clare Hospital/SSM Health, Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, and the Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural Graduate Medical Education.
The annual report details WRPRAP’s accomplishments in granting awards for enhancing residency education quantity and/or quality, outlines technical assistance to grantees, demonstrates expanded outreach to primary care subspecialties, and indicates intended future development plans.
Recent Reports
Contact WRPRAP
Contact WRPRAP@fammed.wisc.edu with questions or intent to apply for funding.
Mailing Address:
UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
1100 Delaplaine Court
3833 Alumni Hall
Madison, WI 53715