In a world-first study, University of Otago researchers have analysed what factors increase the likelihood of medical graduates choosing careers in rural medicine.
They found being of rural origin, being older than 25 when entering medical school, and participating in an extended rural medical school placement, such as Otago’s Rural Medical Immersion Programme (RMIP), were independent predictors of entering rural practice.
Lead author and RMIP co-director Dr Katelyn Costello said at present, attention was on students with rural backgrounds and those who had expressed early career intentions of working in rural areas.
However, she believed they should not be the sole focus.
"More medical students need opportunities to be exposed to rural medicine, as we’ve found those working in rural practice come from all walks of life."
While rural healthcare was not just about doctors, she said the research focused on doctors because the longitudinal Medical School Outcomes Database (MSOD) enabled researchers to follow them from when they first entered medical school.
She said the study looked at the MSOD data of more than 3290 New Zealand doctors, and combined it with workforce location data from 2011 to 2019.
"We now have information about what doctors are actually doing — not just their intentions."
Students who participated in the RMIP were six times as likely to be working as rural doctors, compared with the rest of the cohort, she said.
"We found New Zealand is on the right track with dedicated rural programmes, but currently only a minority of students are participating in these.
"We need to be doing more if we want to overcome rural doctor shortages."
For rural initiatives to be successful, the government needed to provide sufficient and more targeted funding.
She said the study also found students of urban origin, and those with no rural career intentions at the start of medical school, still made up more than half of the early career rural medical workforce. It showed that interests and career paths changed throughout life.
"It’s important to provide opportunities and supports for more students and doctors to practice rural medicine, regardless of where they come from or where they think they might end up working in the future," Dr Costello said.
"Rural communities deserve to flourish. Providing high-quality and cost-effective healthcare close to home is part of that."
