Encouraging youth towards rural health care through Young Medical Minds

Young Medical Minds (YMM) is a community-level program designed to address the challenges associated with attracting and retaining healthcare workers in rural areas by showcasing a variety of healthcare careers in rural areas to local grade 8 students. The objectives of this study were to determine if there is, after participating in the YMM program, an increase in participant interest and desire to go into the healthcare field and/or practice in rural communities, a desire to stay or return to rural areas for work or living, and an interest and desire to go to rural post-secondary institutions.

We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of past YMM participants using an email survey enquiring about their life choices and reflections on the program. Survey validity was established using Kirkpatrick's four-level evaluation model using a combination of multiple-choice questions, Likert questions, and matrix questions, which was then reviewed by the YMM administrative team for clarity and precision. With an n=64, we used the package 'binom' to calculate Jeffreys confidence interval for standalone 95% confidence intervals. Similarly, the non-parametric Fisher's exact test, exact binomial test, and exact McNemar test were used to compare proportions to pre-existing values, demographic data, and before and after measurements, respectively.

The majority of participants reported that YMM played a role in who or where they were today and that it impacted the career they had or intended to pursue (88.71% and 74.55%, respectively). After taking YMM, there was a significant increase in the proportion of participants who changed their minds towards the healthcare field (39.22%, χ2=19.42, p<0.001), careers in rural environments (24.00%, χ2=9.84, p=0.002), attending rural post-secondary institutions (19.15%, χ2=6.51, p=0.01), and attending the University of Alberta's rural-based Augustana Campus (19.64%, χ2=12.16, p<0.001). While the proportion of participants who went into or were training for a career in health care was significantly greater than the provincial average (33.87%, p<0.001), there was no difference in the proportion of participants who chose to or were planning to enter rural health care compared to the provincial average (47.62%, p=0.08). The proportion of YMM participants who chose or planned to live or work in rural environments was significantly greater than the provincial average (47.62%, p<0.001 and 39.68%, p<0.001, respectively). Additionally, the proportion of YMM participants who attended or planned to attend post-secondary institutions was significantly greater than for other rural students (90.00% and 95.65%, respectively, p=0.005) with less than half choosing to study in rural institutions (41.67% and 18.18%, respectively).

This study demonstrates that YMM participants had an increased interest in careers in the healthcare field, rural communities, and rural institutions. Thus, investing in programs like YMM is worthwhile for policymakers given the promise these hold in terms of supporting both the healthcare profession and rural communities.