title: Influence of a rural family medicine rotation on residency selection: MS3 versus MS4.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many family medicine educators feel that a required clinical rotation in family medicine has a positive influence on medical students' selection of family medicine residencies. We investigated the effect of a rural family medicine rotation on students' residency choices and examined the differences between a third-year and a fourth-year rotation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 1,260 students before and after they participated in a required rural family medicine rotation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rotation had a small positive effect on student interest in family medicine. Over 20 years, there was a net gain of 4.7% (93 students) from before to after the rotation. Moving the rural rotation from the MS4 to the MS3 year resulted in a significant decline in the number of students who switched their preferences toward family medicine and ultimately matched to a family medicine residency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When the rotation occurs in the third year, there is more time following the rotation for other influences to exert an impact on a student's specialty choice, resulting in a small "bleed" away from family medicine. It might be useful to develop programs that continue to pique the interest in family medicine during their fourth year.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE 68198-3075, USA. jgeske@unmc.edu
authors.forename: Jenenne A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Geske
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paulman
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D003657:Decision Making; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D009329:Nebraska; D011231:Preceptorship; D012423:Rural Health; D013038:Specialization; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult