Abstract
Each year growing numbers of undergraduate health science students, from a variety of disciplines, participate in a University of Tasmania Department of Rural Health supported rural placement program in Tasmania. This study aimed to investigate the influence rural placement and rural background had on students' intentions to live and work in a rural or remote location after graduation. Between January 2005 and December 2006, 336 students participated in the placement program. Students were requested to complete a survey at the completion of their placement. A response rate of 239 was achieved (71%). The survey measured students' stated rural career intentions and rural background status according to location of primary and secondary school attendance. A demographic analysis of respondents was undertaken and results cross tabulated according to the rural, remote and metropolitan area (RRMA) classification system. Statistical analyses, including paired t-tests and a Wilcoxon signed rank test, were conducted to compare reported mean intention to practise rurally both prior to and after placement. The results from this survey show that rural placements in the undergraduate health science programs have a predominantly positive influence on students' intention to work in a rural community post-graduation. While these findings were significant for the disciplines of nursing, medicine and allied health, the results were not significant for pharmacy students. Students' average intention to practise rurally significantly increased after the placement for students from RRMA classifications 1 and 3-5. The value of rural placements as a method for increasing health science students' intentionality to take up rural practice as a positive and viable career option is considerable.
Highlights
Each year growing numbers of undergraduate health science students, from a variety of disciplines, participate in a University of Tasmania Department of Rural Health supported rural placement program in Tasmania
In line with the need to increase the numbers of health professionals working in rural and remote areas[1,2,3], there are various rural health education activities underway in many undergraduate health science programs
The population under study consisted of undergraduate health science students from a wide range of disciplines, including nursing, medicine, pharmacy and allied health who undertook a rural placement in Tasmania (n = 336)
Summary
This study aimed to investigate the influence rural placement and rural background had on students’ intentions to live and work in a rural or remote location after graduation. In line with the need to increase the numbers of health professionals working in rural and remote areas[1,2,3], there are various rural health education activities underway in many undergraduate health science programs. There is compelling evidence that the strongest variable associated with the recruitment and retention of health professionals in rural communities is rural background[4]. Many undergraduate health science programs often include a rural learning opportunity, which introduces students to the unique aspects of rural practice. These rural placements generally involve ‘...a period of experience (usually including clinical training experience) provided to a health science undergraduate in one or more health settings in a rural area’[6]
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