The Minnesota Rural Physician Associate Program for medical students.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Rural Health Policy
• Physician Distribution

Background:

• Minnesota legislature mandated physician redistribution to rural areas in 1970.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP) was established to address physician shortages in underserved communities.
• Failure to comply risked state funding for the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP) in redistributing physicians to rural Minnesota.
• To assess the program's impact on physician ratios in underserved areas.
• To analyze the long-term practice locations of RPAP graduates.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal clinical education program for third-year medical students lasting 9-12 months.
• Students trained under experienced rural general physician preceptors.
• Program evaluation based on preceptor, staff, and faculty assessments, with six months of academic credit awarded.

Main Results:

• After 16 years, all 87 Minnesota counties achieved an acceptable general physician ratio.
• 57% of former RPAP students were practicing in rural communities as of 1986.
• A majority of these rural practitioners were located in Minnesota, in towns under 10,000 population.

Conclusions:

• The RPAP has been effective in increasing the number of physicians practicing in rural Minnesota.
• The program model successfully incentivizes and trains physicians for rural practice.
• RPAP contributes significantly to addressing rural health disparities by improving physician access.