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​About Us

Established in 2018, the Health Equity Workforce Research Center (Equity HWRC), part of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity, conducts workforce studies on equity in health workforce education and training. The Equity HWRC research portfolio will look across the continuum of education and training opportunities for all health professions and assess them in relation to social mission outcomes. 

We are committed to developing and enhancing new metrics and tools for measuring health equity in health professions education, and partnering with health professions associations to analyze pipeline and school characteristics effects on health equity.

Leadership

Director: Patricia Pittman, PhD
Deputy Director: Clese Erikson, MPAff

Current Research Studies

Assessing the Impact of State Policies on Nursing Education Regulation and Program Outcomes​

This study aims to highlight how state policies can serve to strengthen or weaken nursing program quality and outcomes. Study findings have broad policy implications for program approval, monitoring and oversight, accreditation, and public reporting. Importantly, the direct link between nursing education quality and service delivery to the U.S. public necessitates an understanding by policy makers, program administrators, educators, and the nursing profession at large of policy drivers that facilitate or inhibit program quality improvement.

Key Questions:

1. What are BON member perceptions as they relate to how state policies impact: BON authority, nursing program standards and operations, and program outcomes (NCLEX pass rates)?
   
2. Which state-level policies are most strongly associated with NCLEX pass rates? ​
   

Study Team: Patricia Pittman, Meg Ziemann, Emily Bass, Drishti Pillai
For questions about this study, contact Patricia Pittman at ppittman@gwu.edu. 

Assessing the Strength and Diversity of Medical Schools’ IPE and SDOH Offerings

For this study, we will: 1) develop a rigorous method to assess the strength, comprehensiveness, and variety of curricular and programmatic offerings around interprofessional education (IPE) and social determinants of health (SDoH) currently being offered in undergraduate medical education (UME) schools and 2) apply this assessment to the 30 medical schools newly accredited in the 2000s. This study will build off a previous study assessing the impact of an interprofessional service learning program (Camden Coalition Student Hotspotting Program) on undergraduate medical students. It also draws upon the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity’s Social Mission Metrics study and Beyond Flexner Alliance. Both of these initiatives focus on evaluating and promoting social mission within health professions education and training.

Key Questions:

1. What metrics should assess the strength and comprehensiveness of undergraduate medical schools’ IPE and SDoH curricular and program offerings?
2. Are medical schools’ public-facing online resources and materials valid indicators of their actual IPE and SDoH curricular and program offerings?
3. What is the landscape of IPE and SDoH curricular and programmatic offerings within newly accredited medical schools, as gleaned from their public-facing online resources and materials? What variation exists among schools?

Study Team: Clese Erikson, Meg Ziemann
​For questions about this study, contact Clese Erikson at ​cerikson@gwu.edu. 

​Case Studies of Nurse Practitioner Residency Programs 

This study will describe the range of currently accredited NP primary care residencies in the country and develop 3-4 case studies to provide in-depth detail on 1) how distinct models have emerged, 2) their content, 3) process any evidence of quantitative or qualitative impact that may be available on each, and
4) a proposal on how to assess the quantitative impact of NP residencies on CHC quality, access to care and/or costs.

Study Team: Patricia Pittman
For questions about this study, contact Patricia Pittman at ​ppittman@gwu.edu. 

Do Health Professions’ Accreditation Standards Include Social Mission Metrics?

This study will examine the current social mission content of health professions school accreditation processes with an eye to the relative social mission commitment of each of the accreditation bodies. It would also provide a comparative report that would allow for structured feedback to the agencies about areas for improved or enhanced social mission standards

Key Questions:

1. To what extent is social mission represented in the standards of major U.S. accrediting agencies for medical, dental, and nursing schools?
2. Are there differences in the scope of social mission inclusion in accreditation standards across these professions?​

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Study Team: Sonal Batra, Julie Orban
For questions about this study, contact Julie Orban at juliela@gwu.edu. 

Residency Training in Federally Qualified Health Centers: The Impact on Staffing Capacity and Productivity

We will investigate the level of FQHC engagement in Medicare GME payments and how increased FQHC engagement in residency training (identified through receipt of FQHC Medicare GME or THCGME payments) is related to FQHC staffing, productivity, and services. The purpose of this study is to evaluate
whether the GME and THC programs help improve FQHCs’ staffing capacity and patient care capacity. Findings can inform HRSA about the role of these residency-training programs in improving FQHCs’ staffing capacity and patient care capacity.

Key Questions:

1. How many FQHCs receive Medicare GME payments (and how much) and/or THCGME support from HRSA? For those receiving Medicare GME payments, what total allowable and non-allowable costs did they report?
   
2. What are facility characteristics and patient profiles of FQHCs receiving Medicare GME, FQHCs with a THC grant, and FQHCs receiving neither Medicare GME nor THC funding?
   
3. To what extent did the Medicare GME

Study Team: Candice Chen, Jeongyoung Park, Nicholas Chong
For questions about this study, contact Candice Chen at cpchen@gwu.edu. 

• Disclaimer

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These projects are supported by the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW), National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (NCHWA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $450,000, with zero percent financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author[s] and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.