Rural origin medical students: how do they cope with the medical school environment?
Australia suffers from a well documented shortage of rural medical practitioners. In an attempt to increase recruitment, it has emerged that rural origin medical students are more than twice as likely as their urban colleagues to become rural practitioners. This has led to a wide range of programs aimed at increasing the number of rural students who apply for and gain entry into medical school. But how do rural students cope with the medical school environment? This paper was based on the results of a survey of senior medical students and looked at how rural students' fare with the medical school environment compared to their urban counterparts. It was concluded that government initiatives currently supporting rural medical students must be continued into the future and continuously evaluated to ensure that rural students have a positive learning experience in preparation for future rural practice.
Durkin
Shane R
SR
Department of General Practice, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia. s.durkin@mail.rah.sa.ga.au
Bascomb
Angela
A
Turnbull
Deborah
D
Marley
John
J
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D019555:Physician-Nurse Relations; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D013021:South Australia; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods