Table 3 Rural practice at internship and later postgraduate stages based on immersing students with different characteristics during undergraduate medical training
Duration of immersion | Rural internship (PGY1) | Rural practice at mixed or later postgraduate stagesa |
|---|---|---|
1 year | 67% (n = 31/46) those immersed based on interest (written application and interview) versus 15% (n = 63/426) metropolitan-trained (either did not express interest/ were not selected) [30] | 21% (n = 13/63) of those with a rural background were practising rurally in PGY3–10 versus 15% (n = 29/195) of metropolitan-background students (immersing rural and metropolitan-background students both significantly associated with working rurally (#) in multivariate modelling, adjusted for rural background, sex, and age) [26] |
10% (n = 7/71) rural-background students versus 7% metropolitan-background (n = 24/331) [16] | ||
Up to 2 years | 61% (n = 73/119) rural background versus 27% (n = 42/157) practised rurally in PGY1–9 when both groups had been rurally immersed, 1- or 2-year immersion significantly associated with rural-background students working rurally, not metropolitan background, though 2 years immersion for metropolitan background approached significance (#) in multivariate modelling, adjusted for most key covariates [29] | |
22% (46/176) of non-conscripted immersed students, versus 4% (n = 8/31) non conscripted working rurally in PGY2–9 (approximate as date of survey not given), (#) univariate analysis only [31] | ||
Wholly rural | 69% (n = 284/413) rural background versus 43% (n = 3/825) metropolitan background [33] |