Are all rural placements created equal? A national study of placement experiences among multidisciplinary health students

Abstract

ObjectiveMembers of the National Rural Health Student Network have expressed concerns that the quality and accessibility of rural placements might vary between health degrees. This study compared a range of placement factors between health student disciplines.DesignCross‐sectional survey.SettingAn online survey tool was distributed in 2016 by the National Rural Health Student Network and its Rural Health Clubs to the National Rural Health Student Network's 10 218 members in all Australian states and territories.ParticipantsResponses were received from 897 health students (9% response rate). Participants were from the disciplines of medicine, dentistry, nursing, midwifery or an allied health degree.Main outcome measuresBivariate analysis between medical and non‐medical students relating to the support received for rural placements: support provided to help students coordinate their placement; assistance with financial costs; mental health support; social support; and student orientation regarding both the placement's health service and community.ResultCompared with medical students, non‐medical students were more likely to have coordinated the majority of their placement themselves, but were less likely to have had control over their placement location or to have received financial support, mental health support, social support, a health service orientation or a community orientation.ConclusionAmong National Rural Health Student Network members, those studying health degrees other than medicine had significantly less rural placement support in all examined domains when compared with medical students.

Profile and rural exposure for nursing and allied health students at two Australian Universities: A retrospective cohort study

“…Such decisions and choices affect the degree of exposure they receive to rural practice, as well as their experience of the broader aspects of rural lifestyle, values and culture 7,8,22 . The extent to which students can choose their preferred placement locations might be limited while they are studying 12 due to university or discipline equity policies. Nevertheless, rural origin students have higher odds than urban origin students of undertaking rural placements, which might further increase their commitment to becoming rural practitioners in the future.…”

“…New graduate rural practice work locations and rural graduate programs have been linked to high‐quality placement experiences 4,8‐10 . Conversely, negative experiences can have detrimental effects on students, which can potentially deter them from rural practice 11,12 …”

“…As is the case with the majority of health workforce studies, most of the previous research exploring the nature of health professional students' placements and the association with their future practice intentions is limited to medicine, dating back several years, 11,13‐21 although some studies have included nursing and allied health students 7‐10,12,22‐28 . Existing evidence shows that rural background is apparently the most strongly influential factor on graduates' choice of rural practice location 10‐12,21‐23 . However, rural practice intentions at commencement of studies 14‐16,20,21 and exposure to rural health care settings during their education and training 8,10,14,23,24,29 are also key indicators of postgraduate rural practice.…”

What works, why and how? A scoping review and logic model of rural clinical placements for allied health students

“…Aim, design and setting of the study Given the complexity of factors that can influence the development, implementation and outcomes of RCPs [12,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], this research is underpinned by a logic framework [27] to identify and illustrate how different elements of RCPs and associations between elements may impact on the outcomes and ultimately the 'success' of RCPs.…”

“…Rural clinical placements (RCPs) or rural work integrated learning opportunities [in this article the term RCPs will be used] for AH students provide a number of benefits, including: a clinical placement opportunity to meet course accreditation and professional registration requirements; developing skills for (rural) practice; influencing consideration of rural employment; and providing unique learning opportunities [ 9 – 12 ]. Therefore, RCPs offer a potential solution to the placement difficulties for universities whilst simultaneously helping to address broader issues of rural health workforce supply and rural readiness to practise [ 12 ]. Often RCPs for health students attempt to achieve all these goals, thus creating a complex set of circumstances where it is difficult to understand or measure how success is facilitated.…”