High school census tract information predicts practice in rural and minority communities

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Rural Health
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Understanding factors influencing physician practice location is crucial for addressing healthcare access.
• Residency training programs aim to prepare physicians for diverse practice settings, including underserved areas.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if census-derived characteristics of residency graduates' high school communities predict practice in rural, medically underserved, or high minority-population settings.

Main Methods:

• A cohort study analyzed 214 University of California, San Francisco-Fresno Family Practice Residency Program graduates (1970-2000).
• Census tract data for high school and practice locations were collected, including rural-urban commuting area code, demographics, income, and medically underserved area designation.

Main Results:

• Graduates from rural high school census tracts were significantly more likely to practice in rural areas (P < .01).
• Graduation from high school in a high-minority census tract predicted practice in a high-minority community (P = .01).
• No high school census tract characteristics predicted practice in federally designated medically underserved areas.

Conclusions:

• High school community demographics can predict rural and high-minority practice locations for family physicians.
• These findings suggest that targeting recruitment from specific community types may influence physician distribution.