Influencing residency choice and practice location through a longitudinal rural pipeline program

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Rural Health
• Physician Workforce Development

Background:

• The University of Missouri School of Medicine implemented the Rural Track Pipeline Program (MU-RTPP) to address the shortage of rural physicians.
• The MU-RTPP encompasses multiple components, including Rural Scholars, Summer Community Program, Rural Track Clerkship (RTC), and Rural Track Elective Program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the MU-RTPP on the specialty choices and first practice locations of participating students.
• To compare outcomes for Rural Scholars, RTC-only participants, and Rural Track Clerkship Plus (RTC+) participants against nonparticipants.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of residency specialty choices between MU-RTPP participants and nonparticipants.
• Calculation of relative risk (RR) for primary care specialty matching.
• Analysis of first practice locations for all participant groups.

Main Results:

• Rural Scholars demonstrated a significantly higher likelihood of matching into family medicine (RR=2.6).
• RTC and RTC+ participants showed increased rates of entering primary care, particularly family medicine.
• Over 57% of MU-RTPP participants chose rural locations for their initial medical practice.

Conclusions:

• The MU-RTPP is an effective longitudinal program for recruiting students into rural and primary care practice.
• The program contributes to addressing the healthcare needs of rural communities in Missouri.