Assessment of Factors for Recruiting and Retaining Medical Students to Rural Communities Using the Community Apgar Questionnaire

BACKGROUND: Rural communities throughout the United States are eager to recruit and retain family physicians. This study examined factors that may contribute to a medical student's decision to consider rural family medicine practice using the Community Apgar Questionnaire (CAQ).

METHODS: Third- and fourth-year medical students from 10 medical schools responded to a survey of 62 identified factors deemed to be present when assessing the strengths and challenges of recruiting family physicians to rural communities. Participants could also respond to six demographic questions. Factors were ranked based on importance to respondents and were compared using demographic information.

RESULTS: A total of 282 MS-3 and MS-4 students interested in family medicine from 10 US medical schools completed the survey (response rate 19.5%). Forty percent of participants anticipate practicing in a rural setting, followed by 31% for suburban and 29% for urban. The top three factors participants considered when anticipating a rural practice setting were spousal satisfaction, call frequency, and competition/collegiality. Additional differences were found across CAQ factors by future practice setting, gender, and location where the student was raised.

CONCLUSIONS: Medical schools, rural preceptors, and rural communities may wish to consider highly rated factors found in the CAQ in the effort to increase the recruitment of family physicians interested in rural practice.