A short‐term rural placement can change metropolitan medical students' knowledge of, and attitudes to, rural practice

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether a short-term placement of metropolitan medical students in a rural environment can improve their knowledge of, and change their attitudes to, rural health issues. Design and participants: Medical students taking part in the March and May 2013 3-week Rural Health Modules (RHMs) were invited to participate in focus groups and complete questionnaires before undertaking the RHM, after a 2-day rural orientation and at the end of the RHM. Students were asked to comment on a range of issues aff ecting rural health care including their attitude to pursuing a rural career. Focus group transcripts were thematically analysed and questionnaire data were statistically analysed. Setting: The RHM is a 3-week program designed and run by the University of Melbourne's Rural Health Academic Centre. Main outcome measures: Responses to questionnaire items from before and after completing the RHM, scored on a seven-point Likert scale.

The impact of rural outreach programs on medical students’ future rural intentions and working locations: a systematic review

“…did not adjust) Inferential statistics, unadjusted)[35, 37, 43, 46, 50, 54, 57, 67, 80, 86, 92, 94]12Sample Size (Includes both intervention/control/comparison group if applicable) Less than 100[37, 50, 73, 80–82, 84–89, 92, 93]14 100–500[12, 35, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 47–49, 54, 56–59, 62, 67, 68, 70, 83, 90, 91, 94, 95]24 500+[36, 38, 41, 43, 46, 51–53, 55, 60, 61, 63–66, 69, 71, 72, 74–79]24Consent or Participant Rate (Depending on the study/type of study and reporting) Below 50%[35, 47, 58, 59, 69, 71, 73, 79, 81, 88, 91]11 50–80%[39, 40, 44, 45, 48, 49, 51, 56, 64, …”

“…The second classification were Rural Clinical Placement Programs (same criteria as a RCP) with an additional rural education component (RCP + Education) (12 studies) [12, 50–55, 61, 62, 76, 80, 94]. The additional rural educational component was often rural cultural training, Aboriginal culture and/or extended general rural employment and community information.…”

“…Forty-two of the studies were designed and implemented within a single medical school (rather than a partnership with multiple schools) [12, 36, 39–47, 49–56, 60–63, 68, 69, 72, 73, 76, 78, 80–89, 93–95], while twenty programs involved multiple medical schools [35, 37, 38, 48, 57–60, 64–67, 70, 71, 75, 77, 79, 90–92]. …”

“…Sixteen studies were deemed “weak”, for reasons such as; relatively poor response rates, small sample size, high risk of bias, lack of statistical analysis to control for potential confounders and not using control or comparison groups [80–95]. …”

How do rural placements affect urban-based Australian junior doctors’ perceptions of working in a rural area?

“…The longer the placement, the higher the intent to practice rurally. [13][14][15] Short-term placements for both urbanand rural-based students are also viewed positively, 16 but there are little data to assess their effect on attitudes to rural practice. 17 Rural exposure for junior doctors is less defined or consistent compared with medical students.…”