Rural clinical school students do come back: But it may take time

Abstract

Background and objectives Rural clinical schools (RCSs) help address Australia's rural workforce shortfall, but they require an investment by rural clinicians and communities. Our objective was to determine the location of RCS graduates as one measure of the effectiveness of RCSs. Method This cross-sectional study obtained work location data for Australian National University Medical School (ANUMS) graduates and analysed both RCS and non-RCS data. Results The percentage of graduates working in rural areas after their fifth postgraduate year (PGY6-11: 34.7%) was significantly greater than that of graduates in PGY1-5 (15.2%, P <0.001). Discussion Many graduates who trained in rural sites spend time in cities before returning to work in rural areas. This is encouraging for rural clinicians and communities, but it can take time for graduates to return.