Physician assistant graduates: factors related to rural-urban practice location

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of selected individual and background characteristics and values of physician assistant (PA) graduates on practice location. Information was gathered through a survey of graduates practicing as physician assistants from the first four classes of the University of Kentucky's Clinical Associate Program. No significant differences were found in rural-urban practice location by examining sociodemographic characteristics of graduates or residential background of graduates and their spouses. The only exception was that female graduates tended to practice in urban locations more than did male graduates. However, differences were found between rural- and urban-based graduates in the importance they placed on selected characteristics of communities.