The number of incoming medical students from rural backgrounds — a strong predictor a future physician will practice in a rural community — declined 28% between 2002 and 2017 to 852, according to a study published yesterday in Health Affairs. Only 4.3% of incoming medical students in 2017 were from rural areas. “Having new and established schools consider rural background as an important component of a diverse student body and tracking the schools’ effectiveness in increasing diversity in this area could have a significant impact on the dearth of rural students, thereby supporting the future adequacy of the rural workforce,” the authors said. “…Offering rural training experiences and other opportunities to interact with rural physicians should be a priority for medical schools that care about the problem of insufficient rural capacity in their region or across the nation.”

Related News Articles

Blog
Managing a crisis calls for strong leadership, a resilient workforce and reliable communication. Health care leaders across the country discussed crisis…
Headline
AHA today voiced support for bipartisan legislation that would create a Rural America Health Corps modeled on the National Health Service Corps to…
Headline
The Federal Communications Commission today released a final rule adopting changes proposed last year to the Rural Health Care Program to improve the…
Headline
Hospitals are encouraged by March 31 to apply for up to five medical education full‐time equivalent resident cap slots made available by the Centers for…
Headline
Quality improvement initiatives create “a living, breathing network of providers and patients working together to achieve optimal outcomes for all communities…
Blog
The values of rural America mirror those of health care quality: people first. The challenge of delivering equitable, effective care is particularly acute in…