Job location decisions of pharmacy graduates in British Columbia

To determine the factors influencing pharmacy graduates' selection of their first professional job location.

A survey was conducted of the 2007 graduating class of the University of British Columbia, examining hometown location, community and workplace factors, personal relationships, financial factors, and leisure activities. Responses were analyzed to determine whether community size or demographic characteristics affected the degree to which each factor influenced the job location decision.

The majority of graduates moved from their hometowns to larger communities, mainly to the largest city in British Columbia. Most of those taking jobs in rural and remote communities grew up in or near those communities, and were more influenced by community size and anticipated working conditions, and less influenced by access to cultural and social activities, than their urban counterparts.

The admission of students from rural and remote communities is modestly effective in ensuring a supply of pharmacists for these areas.