Attitude of medical students toward serving in rural areas and its determinants: a cross-sectional study from Uttarakhand

Abstract

Background: As 70% of population of India resides in rural areas, there is need of providing effective health care to people in these areas. Health care system in rural areas faces the challenge of shortage of doctors. Understanding of perceptions and attitudes of medical students toward working in rural areas can help in addressing the problem of shortage of doctors in these areas. Objective: This study aimed to determine the attitude of medical students toward serving in rural areas and the determinants of such attitude. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 115 medical students of final year and internships of a government medical college. A pretested self-administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, mean, and standard deviation were used for data summarization and presentation. Results: The overall average of the total score of respondents’ attitudes toward the working in rural areas was 45.20 and the SD was 7.76, indicating a slightly negative attitude toward the working in rural areas. Students belonging to rural areas had more favorable attitude to working in rural areas in comparison to students from urban background. Conclusion: Medical students had positive attitude regarding the importance of working in rural areas, but their overall attitude toward working in rural areas was found to be not favorable.