Multidisciplinary teams are formed at over 40 universities and colleges across the Commonwealth to engage in a collaborative research and design process. First, each team develops a patient vignette within one of three rural health focus areas. Next, teams perform a "red teaming" activity, simulating the patient experience by seeking medical information from various AI models to test their accuracy and reliability. These AI responses are then analyzed to identify safe and effective use cases. Finally, each team translates their findings into a patient-facing infographic or short-form video specifically designed to communicate these complex lessons to rural populations.
This journey aboard Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian serves as both an immersive empathy experience and a mobile peer-review session. As the train crosses the state, participants deepen their connection to the region through narrated town profiles shared at each stop. Simultaneously, the train serves as a rolling forum where teams evaluate and rate one another’s educational materials. The energy builds as new teams board at each of the 13 intermediate stops, culminating in a grand arrival celebration at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.
Once all participants have gathered, the event transitions to a formal symposium. The highest-scoring educational resources from each focus area are presented to the full cohort, followed by a keynote discussion. The program concludes with a networking reception, where teams are encouraged to carry the Rails for Rural Health conversation back to their home institutions and across social media.
All Pennsylvanian colleges and universities with clinical training programs (plus some from Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York!) See the Teams page for more information.
A clinical trainee:
Medicine
Osteopathic Medicine
Nurse Practitioner
Physician Assistant
A technical trainee:
Computer Science
Informatics
Engineering
A social trainee:
Social Work
Public Health
Psychology
Sociology
A rural patient:
Older individual
Someone with mental health needs
Teenager
Each team will create a patient-facing infographic or short-form video designed to communicate safe and effective uses of AI systems
May 1st, 2026: Team Registration Deadline
May 25th, 2026: All Educational Materials Due
June 2nd, 2025: Event Day! [tentative]
6:30 AM: Breakfast and media event at PGH station
7:30 AM: All aboard the Pennsylvanian
Intermediary Stations with teams boarding: Greensburg (8:11 AM), Latrobe (8:21 AM), Johnstown (9:05 AM), Altoona (10:03 AM), Tyrone (10:21 AM), Huntingdon (10:48 AM), Lewistown (11:38 AM), Harrisburg (1:05 PM), Elizabethtown (1:23 PM), Lancaster (1:45 PM), Exton (2:17 PM), Paoli (2:29 PM)
3:25 PM: Arrival celebration and media event at PHL station
4:30 PM: Rural Health Symposium at UPenn
6:00 PM: Reception
See Schedule page for more details.
Most teams will board Amtrak at their nearest station and ride to Philadelphia together.
Philadelphia Amtrak Station
2955 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Smilow Center for Translational Research
3400 Civic Center Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
