title: The rural medical scholars program study: data to inform rural health policy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  medical education to produce rural physicians hinges on the characteristics of students, educational programs, and rural experiences. Family physicians are key components of rural medicine. This study tested the effectiveness of multiple, combined strategies of the Rural Medical Scholars Program to produce family medicine residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  we compared the relative effectiveness of the Rural Medical Scholars Program, family medicine-oriented branch campuses, and a traditional urban campus to produce family medicine residents using a prospective quasi-experimental design. Logistic regression was used to account for covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the relative effectiveness of 3 educational modalities to produce family medicine residents was examined: Rural Medical Scholars Program (44.0%; odds ratio [OR], 15.6), family medicine-oriented branch campuses (18.9%; OR, 5.8), and a traditional urban campus (3.9%; OR, 1). These differences were significant (P < .05) after controlling for sex, race, Medical College Admission Test scores, and graduation rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the findings are consistent with the literature, which recommends multiple strategy interventions to produce rural physicians (e.g., admit rural students who have an interest in family medicine, use family medicine faculty, and provide rural experiences). Further study will determine whether rural practice follows training in family medicine among Rural Medical Scholars.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Rural Medicine, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, USA. jwheat@cchs.ua.edu
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wheat
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Leeper
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Brandon
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Guin
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D000407:Alabama; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011365:Professional Practice Location; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019035:Rural Health Services; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult