Practice location preferences at entry to medical school.
Previous studies of the geographical maldistribution of physicians suggest that choice of practice location follows from specialty selection and residency location, although it is plausible that the causal order is reversed. To aid in disentangling the causal order, the locational preferences of entering medical students are analyzed. The findings show that the majority of students prefer a small town or mid-size city for practice and about 70 percent prefer primary care--general practice, internal medicine, or pediatrics. Moreover, nearly 60 percent desire a solo or small-group practice of no more than five physicians. Unexpectedly, the factor which best predicts preference for practice locale is not specialty but form of practice organization, which explains 13 percent of the variance in selected geographic location when other factors are controlled. The relationship between preferences for solo or small-group practice and small or mid-size communities may be explained by a common underlying disposition to independence, autonomy, and freedom from bureaucratic control.
D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006280:Health Workforce; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D013038:Specialization; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States