Document Detail


Influence of a rural background on a medical student's decision to specialize in family medicine.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  18778169     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
INTRODUCTION: Minority populations, including those from rural areas, continue to be underrepresented in medical schools despite increased efforts to recruit them. Although family physicians are more highly represented in rural areas, and medical students from rural areas are more likely to return to rural areas, relatively few medical students enter the specialty of family medicine in the USA. Because family physicians are a smaller proportion of all practicing physicians--both urban and rural--in the east when compared with the remainder of the USA, this study examines the influence of a rural background on career decisions of medical students in an eastern state, New York. New York's social and political structure is additionally influenced by the presence of New York City, the largest city in the USA and one of the world's major financial centers. METHODS: A retrospective, case-control study comparing medical school graduates entering family medicine residencies with those entering residencies in other disciplines was conducted for a period of 16 years at a north-east medical school. The size of the town or city of the student's high school graduation was used to determine which students came from a rural background. RESULTS: Students graduating from rural high schools were more than twice as likely to enter family medicine (OR 2.27, p<0.01) than those from non-rural high schools. CONCLUSIONS: In order to alleviate health disparities and meet health manpower needs, admitting students to medical school who graduated from rural high schools will increase the rural workforce.
Authors:
R W Pretorius; D A Milling; D McGuigan
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2008-08-21
Journal Detail:
Title:  Rural and remote health     Volume:  8     ISSN:  1445-6354     ISO Abbreviation:  Rural Remote Health     Publication Date:    2008 Jul-Sep
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2008-09-09     Completed Date:  2008-10-23     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  101174860     Medline TA:  Rural Remote Health     Country:  Australia    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  928     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, Buffalo, New York, USA. pretor@buffalo.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Career Choice*
Case-Control Studies
Family Practice*
Female
Humans
Male
Medically Underserved Area*
New York
Professional Practice Location
Retrospective Studies
Rural Health Services
Rural Population
School Admission Criteria
Students, Medical*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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