Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central Germany
Aim: Many universities offer rural medical internships for medical students. The present survey was designed to show how rural medical work is perceived by students, whether these perceptions are associated with origin and previous experience, and how well medical students know rural regions in the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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German Medical Science GMS Publishing House
2023-06-01
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| Series: | GMS Journal for Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.egms.de/static/en/journals/zma/2023-40/zma001634.shtml |
| _version_ | 1797770529252311040 |
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| author | Brütting, Christine Herget, Sabine Bauch, Felix Nafziger, Melanie Klingenberg, Anja Deutsch, Tobias Frese, Thomas |
| author_facet | Brütting, Christine Herget, Sabine Bauch, Felix Nafziger, Melanie Klingenberg, Anja Deutsch, Tobias Frese, Thomas |
| author_sort | Brütting, Christine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aim: Many universities offer rural medical internships for medical students. The present survey was designed to show how rural medical work is perceived by students, whether these perceptions are associated with origin and previous experience, and how well medical students know rural regions in the vicinity of their university. In addition, students were asked how to support and inspire medical students to later work in a rural region.Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on an anonymous online survey of medical students at the Universities of Halle-Wittenberg and Leipzig. The evaluations included descriptive statistics, statistical group comparisons, and qualitative content analysis of free text answers.Results: A total of 882 students took part in the survey. Students who had grown up in a rural region or had lived there for a longer time (71.7% of the respondents) rated the work-life balance better (p<0.01) and the patient variety in the countryside slightly higher (p<0.05) than their fellow students from the big city. Students who had worked in a rural practice or hospital before (62.2%) rated patient diversity (p<0.001) and work variety (p<0.001), as well as workload (p<0.01), slightly higher in rural areas than students with no prior experience. On average, the specified rural model regions were still unknown to more than 60% of the students. The suggestions for attracting medical students to later work as rural physicians included financial incentives and, above all, better information about life as a rural physician and the rural regions.Conclusion: Thus, the medical faculties of the universities as well as the counties threatened by medical undersupply should further expand the transfer of knowledge and experience regarding rural physician life for the students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:24:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-44e19bcafea449199e165325ccdfcc76 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2366-5017 |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:24:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | German Medical Science GMS Publishing House |
| record_format | Article |
| series | GMS Journal for Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-44e19bcafea449199e165325ccdfcc762023-07-28T09:52:34ZdeuGerman Medical Science GMS Publishing HouseGMS Journal for Medical Education2366-50172023-06-01404Doc5210.3205/zma001634Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central GermanyBrütting, Christine0Herget, Sabine1Bauch, Felix2Nafziger, Melanie3Klingenberg, Anja4Deutsch, Tobias5Frese, Thomas6University of Halle-Wittenberg, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for General Medicine, Halle (Saale), GermanyUniversity of Leipzig, Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Practice, Leipzig, GermanyUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for General Medicine, Halle (Saale), GermanyUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for General Medicine, Halle (Saale), GermanyaQua Institute for Applied Quality Improvement and Research in Health Care, Göttingen, GermanyUniversity of Leipzig, Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Practice, Leipzig, GermanyUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for General Medicine, Halle (Saale), GermanyAim: Many universities offer rural medical internships for medical students. The present survey was designed to show how rural medical work is perceived by students, whether these perceptions are associated with origin and previous experience, and how well medical students know rural regions in the vicinity of their university. In addition, students were asked how to support and inspire medical students to later work in a rural region.Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on an anonymous online survey of medical students at the Universities of Halle-Wittenberg and Leipzig. The evaluations included descriptive statistics, statistical group comparisons, and qualitative content analysis of free text answers.Results: A total of 882 students took part in the survey. Students who had grown up in a rural region or had lived there for a longer time (71.7% of the respondents) rated the work-life balance better (p<0.01) and the patient variety in the countryside slightly higher (p<0.05) than their fellow students from the big city. Students who had worked in a rural practice or hospital before (62.2%) rated patient diversity (p<0.001) and work variety (p<0.001), as well as workload (p<0.01), slightly higher in rural areas than students with no prior experience. On average, the specified rural model regions were still unknown to more than 60% of the students. The suggestions for attracting medical students to later work as rural physicians included financial incentives and, above all, better information about life as a rural physician and the rural regions.Conclusion: Thus, the medical faculties of the universities as well as the counties threatened by medical undersupply should further expand the transfer of knowledge and experience regarding rural physician life for the students.http://www.egms.de/static/en/journals/zma/2023-40/zma001634.shtmlphysician shortagecurriculum developmentrural areasstudent survey |
| spellingShingle | Brütting, Christine Herget, Sabine Bauch, Felix Nafziger, Melanie Klingenberg, Anja Deutsch, Tobias Frese, Thomas Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central Germany GMS Journal for Medical Education physician shortage curriculum development rural areas student survey |
| title | Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central Germany |
| title_full | Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central Germany |
| title_fullStr | Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central Germany |
| title_short | Factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university’s catchment area – cross-sectional survey among medical students in central Germany |
| title_sort | factors promoting willingness to practice medicine in rural regions and awareness of rural regions in the university s catchment area cross sectional survey among medical students in central germany |
| topic | physician shortage curriculum development rural areas student survey |
| url | http://www.egms.de/static/en/journals/zma/2023-40/zma001634.shtml |
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