Preparing for rural practice. Enhanced experience for medical students and residents

Recruitment and retention of physicians appropriately trained for rural practice in Canada continues to be a serious challenge. We describe three integrated educational programs at the University of Alberta that aim to increase students' and residents' participation in rural health care and encourage them to take up practice in rural areas. OBJECTIVES OF PROGRAM: To expand and enrich rural educational experiences at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and to supplement family medicine postgraduate education with a third-year special-skills program for rural practice.

Main components are sustained, reliable funding from the Government of Alberta for the Rural Physician Action Plan; adequate infrastructure to support the program; and commitment by university faculty, rural physicians, and communities.

The rural-based educational programs have allowed more than 95% of medical students to gain experience in rural areas. The number of family medicine residents doing rural rotations has doubled, and the length of experiences in rural practice has increased fourfold. The third-year special-skills training for rural practice has expanded greatly, and at least 26 of 49 participants have gone on to enter rural practice. In more than 30 rural Alberta communities, 56 physicians have had an important influence on the training of medical students and family medicine residents.