Events

The 2025 Annual Conference call for concurrent session presentations is now closed.

This is an opportunity to share effective models, policies, research and information and provide your colleagues with insights and best practices addressing many of the access, quality and geographic issues confronted by rural communities. Please consider contributing a session.

NRHA's Annual Rural Health Conference is an interactive experience designed for all rural health professionals, with 7 tracks covering clinical issues, statewide public health issues, clinic management, rural communities, education, policy and learning tools for leaders. NRHA is willing to consider any new and innovative session proposals.

NRHA's Rural Hospital Innovation Summit is one of the first meetings of its kind, dedicated to rural hospital innovation and transformation and providing premier networking and education exclusively for rural hospital leadership teams striving to innovate toward community health transformation.

 

Presentation submission information and general instructions

Submissions must meet all the requirements of the category. Incomplete submissions will not be reviewed.

• Submissions must have been received no later than Aug. 15, 2024.
• Only electronic abstracts will be accepted.
• Notification of acceptance will be sent out in late October.
• Presentations may not market products or services; exhibit space is available for that purpose.
• If accepted, presenters must register for the conference. As a small gesture of our appreciation for all the hard work in preparing your presentation, we will offer a limited-time discount on your registration fee. If you register and pay in full by the early-bird deadline, you will receive a 50 percent discount on your registration fee. All registrations received after this deadline will be charged the full registration rate.
• In addition, no honoraria or travel expense reimbursement will be provided for any presenter submitting through “Call for Presentations."
• If accepted, speakers agree to present in person.
• The standard audio/visual equipment provided by NRHA includes LCD projectors, screens and podium microphones. Computers must be provided by the speaker. If needed, it will be the responsibility of the presenters to make arrangements and provide payment for such equipment. Flip charts available upon request. Sessions are 75 minutes in length.

Questions? Call Gabriela Boscan at 202-639-0550.

The 2025 Annual Conference call for research and education presentations is now open.

The National Rural Health Association invites individuals with an interest in rural health research, evaluation of education programs or significant educational innovation to submit abstracts for presentation during NRHA's 48th Annual Conference. The submissions will be considered for presentation by members of NRHA's Research and Education Constituency Group. Presenters will be selected competitively through a blind review process.

Abstract submissions will be considered in three separate categories, each of which matches a presentation format at the meeting. Abstracts can:
 

• focus on original descriptive or analytic studies using quantitative or qualitative methods;
• relate to policy issues in the general field of health that affect rural populations or providers; or
• describe innovative practices or teaching techniques.

Presentation formats

Contributed paper session:
Each contributed paper session consists of four independent paper presentations by different authors. Each author is allotted approximately 15 minutes for presentation. Time is allocated at the end of the session for questions and answers. Abstracts submitted for review may have a 1) research or 2) education focus.

Poster session:
Space will be reserved to display research results, studies of educational evaluation or best practice topics of interest. Authors will be responsible for mounting posters, being available to discuss their exhibit and removing posters. Abstracts that are highly rated in the review process but not accepted for a formal paper presentation will be invited as a poster presentation.

Instructions for authors:
All applications must be submitted through NRHA's website. Submissions must be received by Jan. 9, 2025, to be considered for the review process. Notification of acceptance for conference presentation will be mailed by late February 2025. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Gabriela Boscan at 202-639-0550.

Contributed paper abstract:
Each submission must include the following: 1) a completed online application form; 2) an abstract attached when prompted during the online application process, which includes the title, is written in English, is no longer than 500 words, single-spaced (12 point font) and no longer than one page in length. All abstracts must be in MS Word format. If tables, charts or figures are included, these should be counted within the 500 word limit. Do not include references. Abstracts should not include any identification of the authors.

Poster session:
Submissions for poster sessions follow the same criteria as for the contributed paper abstracts; however, the abstract should include "For Poster Session" after the title.

Evaluation criteria:
The following criteria are used to evaluate all abstracts: 1) originality of work; 2) relevance or interest to NRHA members; 3) timeliness; and 4) quality, clarity and completeness of the abstract.

Abstracts focusing on research findings will be evaluated on their potential significance to the discipline, soundness of the methodology, any empirical, data-based results and rigor.

Abstracts covering research on current policy issues will be evaluated according to the soundness of the research method and the potential contribution to policy discussion.

Evaluation of education, training and practice programs will be judged according to the assessment tools used and the originality and potential impact of the educational innovation.
 
Click here to submit a research or educational abstract for the 2025 Annual Conference.

Questions? Contact Gabriela Boscan at 202-639-0550.