[Adapting medical education to meet the physician recruitment needs of rural and remote regions in Canada, the US and Australia].

Abstract

Australia, Canada and the United States have large land masses containing many sparsely populated regions. Each of these countries has experienced difficulty in meeting the physician recruitment needs of its rural and remote regions. This paper reports on a study of selected Australian, Canadian and American medical education programs designed to meet the health professional needs of rural and remote areas. The study is based on published material from the institutions studies, supplemented by a series of interviews with senior academic officials in the institutions involved. The paper focuses on a range of strategies, from recruitment and admissions policies, to exposure to rural clinical practice and modified curricula, each designed to produce medical graduates with a strong orientation to rural practice. The study highlights the important role played by special government funding targeted at rural medical education initiatives and discusses the challenges that such initiatives face.