Premium
Pharmacy students' intention to practise in a rural setting: Measuring the impact of a rural curriculum, rural campus and rural placement on a predominantly metropolitan student cohort
Author(s) -
Taylor Susan J.,
Maharaj Praveen,
Williams Kylie,
Sheldrake Carol
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1584
pISSN - 1038-5282
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1584.2009.01102.x
Subject(s) - curriculum , pharmacy , medicine , rural area , metropolitan area , psychological intervention , rural health , medical education , family medicine , cohort , nursing , psychology , pedagogy , pathology
Objective: To compare pharmacy students' intention to practise in a rural setting expressed in their first year of university with that expressed during their final year.Design: Longitudinal survey of students in their first and final years.Setting: Tertiary educational institution.Participants: Predominantly metropolitan pharmacy students.Interventions: Students were exposed to a rural curriculum, rural campus and rural placement or rural placement alone during their degree.Main outcome measure: Change in proportion of students expressing an intention to practise in a rural setting following registration.Results: The proportion of respondents who indicated an intention to practise in a rural setting was 21.6% (27/125) in 2006 compared with 11.2% (14/125) in 2003. This was a statistically significant increase of 10.4% ( P = 0.001) over the four years. Positive influences on students' intention to practise in a rural setting were: rural background ( P = 0.012); rural placement (either two weeks or 12 weeks) ( P = 0.002); having been enrolled in the BPharm (Rural) ( P = 0.001). Conclusions: This study confirmed the work of others in that the students most likely to express an intention to practise in a rural setting were those from a rural background who elected to undertake and complete a rural degree involving a rural placement. A follow‐up survey will be conducted to establish whether their stated intention as students has translated to rural practice in reality.