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Choosing to practice in rural dietetics: what factors influence that decision?
Susan E Heaney1, Helen Tolhurst, Surinder K Baines
1Discipline of General Practice, School of Medical Practice and Population Health, the University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
Objective:
The present study aimed to identify those factors that influence the decision of a dietitian to consider working in a rural area.
Design:
A qualitative design using focus groups was chosen for this study to allow for in-depth data to be obtained.
Setting:
University of Newcastle, Callaghan Campus.
Subjects:
Twenty-three students/new graduates from the Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) degree at the University of Newcastle.
Main Outcome Measures:
Not applicable, this project was an exploratory study.
Results:
A number of factors that influence the decision of dietetic students and newly graduated dietitians to consider working in a rural area were identified. These fell into the following main thematic areas: job prospects; rural lifestyle; comfort zones; support networks; promotion opportunities/professional development; type of work/work role; rural needs; and time frame.
Conclusions:
The present study found that choosing a location to work (whether it be a rural one or not) is a complex process and involves a number of interacting factors. Also those factors that may influence one dietitian to choose a career in a rural area may also be the factors that influence another dietitian not to choose a career in a rural area.
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