Factors affecting pharmacists' selection of rural or urban practice sites in Nebraska

A questionnaire was used to determine why pharmacists in Nebraska chose urban or rural practice sites and to help the University of Nebraska College of Pharmacy encourage students to consider rural practice. Questionnaires were mailed to 1427 Nebraska pharmacists to gather data about their practice, job satisfaction, location of rearing, location of spouse's rearing, and prepharmacy and clerkship training. Usable responses were sorted into those from urban pharmacists (residing in Omaha and Lincoln and their suburban areas) and those from rural pharmacists (all others). Of the 689 usable responses, 315 (45.7%) were from urban pharmacists and 374 (54.3%) were from rural pharmacists. Of the rural pharmacists, 93% [corrected] grew up in communities of fewer than 100,000 people and 60% grew up in communities of fewer than 5,000 people. Respondents cited income potential, desirability of practice site, influence of spouse and family, and quality of children's schools as factors that most influenced their choice of practice site. Based on the survey results, the University of Nebraska College of Pharmacy took actions to recruit students from rural communities and increase students' exposure to rural practice settings. Pharmacists who were reared or trained in rural areas were more likely to practice in rural Nebraska than pharmacists who had only urban experience.