Kansas City University receives $1.5 million grant to combat burnout in health sciences students

Kansas City University was recently awarded over $1.5 million in federal funding. This funding comes in the form of a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the United States Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration.

This grant, part of the HRSA’s Health and Public Safety Workforce Resiliency Training Program, will support KCU’s efforts to address burnout in health care professionals at the beginning of their careers.

HRSA’s Health and Public Safety Workforce Resiliency Training program provides funding for early training related to resiliency and coping, predominantly in rural and underserved communities. KCU is one of 34 grantees (the only institution in Missouri) and will receive $1,576,449 over the course of three years.

During this three-year period, KCU’s approach will center around resiliency training through a scalable program called Thrive. The goal of Thrive is to help medical students and other health sciences students build resilience and decrease burnout throughout the entirety of their medical careers.

Thrive is built on two foundational components: curriculum and connections. It will include resiliency training combined with co-curricular activities, advising/coaching, data analytics, supporting services and an emphasis on inclusivity. Thrive is a holistic, enterprise-wide learning enhancement program.

“Training the next generation of physicians and other health care professionals to provide the best possible care begins with ensuring students have the tools to take care of themselves,” said Edward O’Connor, provost and executive vice president for Academic, Research and Student Affairs at KCU, in a statement. “With this grant, we will provide training and resources early in our students’ health care careers to help them better navigate and adapt to the challenges of their professional and personal lives.”