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Perceived preparedness for family practice: does rural background matter?
Olga Szafran1, Rodney A Crutcher, Wayne Woloschuk
1Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta, Canada. olga.szafran@ualberta.ca
Summary
Physicians with a rural background reported feeling more prepared for nonclinical aspects of rural practice. Increased exposure to rural culture may improve recruitment and retention of rural family physicians.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Rural Health
- Physician Workforce
Background:
- Rural background and adaptability are key predictors for rural physician recruitment and retention.
- Understanding the interplay between rural background and practice readiness can inform strategies to increase the rural physician supply.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between family medicine graduates' rural or urban upbringing and their self-assessed preparedness for practice.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective, cross-sectional survey of family medicine graduates (2001-2005) from the University of Alberta and University of Calgary.
- Self-rated preparedness assessed using a 4-point Likert scale across clinical, interdisciplinary, practice management, and nonclinical aspects.
- Rural background defined as upbringing in a community with < 25,000 population; urban background defined as upbringing in a community with ≥ 25,000 population.
Main Results:
- A higher percentage of rural-background graduates felt prepared for nonclinical aspects of rural practice.
- Specifically, rural graduates reported greater preparedness for time demands (95.0% vs. 79.3%), understanding rural culture (92.5% vs. 70.2%), and small-community living (92.5% vs. 70.2%).
Conclusions:
- Rural background is linked to perceived preparedness in nonclinical and cultural facets of rural family practice.
- This suggests that targeted rural exposure enhances cultural understanding.
- Urban-background physicians reported lower preparedness for nonclinical rural practice; increased exposure may boost rural physician recruitment and retention.
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