Demographic and medical school characteristics associated with urban versus rural dermatology practice: A national cross-sectional study

Response to Fulk et al’s “Geographic practice preferences of graduating medical students pursuing careers in dermatology”

“…4 A national cross-sectional analysis further suggested that students from public, osteopathic, and nonmetropolitan medical schools, as well as those from medical schools with a rural track, were 1.5e53 more likely to pursue rural dermatology practice. 5 While further exploration of characteristics associated with rural practice is essential, these studies provide a foundation that can better direct rural recruitment efforts in dermatology. It may be beneficial to incorporate the aforementioned factors into holistic application reviews, which have received a growing emphasis and represent a shift away from primarily considering ''objective'' forms of academic achievement in favor of weighing applicant background and extracurricular features.…”