Karen E. Schifferdecker, PhD, MPH

Dr. Schifferdecker is an Associate Professor in The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice and Community and Family Medicine. As a medical anthropologist and public health researcher, she has led qualitative and mixed methods evaluation and research over the past 30 years on a variety of topics, including rural healthcare delivery, rural health workforce supply and training, cancer screening, patient-reported outcomes, and disparities in healthcare delivery with funding from many agencies, including NIH, the VA's Office of Rural Health, PCORI, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Administration for Children and Families, and the Arthritis Foundation. Dr. Schifferdecker co-founded and directed the Center for Program Design and Evaluation at Dartmouth for 12 years, where she oversaw a team to provide mixed methods evaluation and research for over 120 projects. Dr. Schifferdecker's current research includes a VA Office of Rural Health funded study on rural workforce supply, a National Institutes of Aging-funded study focused on primary care access, quality, and safety net settings for care of older adults, a national comparative effectiveness clinical trial funded by PCORI on improving colorectal cancer screening surveillance for older adults, and Arthritis Foundation-funded research on osteoarthritis.

Dr. Schifferdecker earned a BA from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, an MA and PhD from the University of Connecticut, and an MPH from Dartmouth College.