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Factors associated with rural practice among Australian‐trained general practitioners
Author(s) -
Laven Gillian A,
Beilby Justin J,
McElroy Heather J,
Wilkinson David
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05439.x
Subject(s) - residence , rural area , odds ratio , odds , medicine , observational study , demography , geography , family medicine , logistic regression , sociology , pathology
Objective: To determine the factors associated with general practitioners' current practice location, with particular emphasis on rural location. Design: Observational, retrospective, case–control study using a self‐administered questionnaire. Setting: Australian general practices in December 2000. Participants: 2414 Australian‐trained rural and urban GPs. Main outcome measure: Current urban or rural practice location. Results: For Australia as a whole, rural GPs were more likely to be male (odds ratio [OR], 1.42; 95% CI, 1.17–1.73), Australian‐born (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.55–2.45), and to report attending a rural primary school for “some” (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.69–2.89) or “all” (OR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.94–4.00) of their primary schooling. Rural GPs' partners or spouses were also more likely to report “some” (OR, 2.75; 95% CI, 2.07–3.66) or “all” (OR, 2.86; 95% CI, 2.02–4.05) rural primary schooling. A rural background in both GP and partner produced the highest likelihood of rural practice (OR, 6.28; 95% CI, 4.26–9.25). For individual jurisdictions, a trend towards more rural GPs being men was only significant in Tasmania. In all jurisdictions except Tasmania and the Northern Territory, rural GPs were more likely to be Australian‐born. Conclusions: GPs' and their partners' rural background (residence and primary and secondary schooling) influences choice of practice location, with partners' background appearing to exert more influence.