Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OC1-2-1
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
yes
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Research
Will the presenter be a:
Other
Presenter Other
Assistant Professor
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Rural and Remote Sustainability Score. Eight years of experience as a screening tool for admission to a distributed medical education program (DME) with an emphasis on rural practice.
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is addressing the shortage of physicians in remote and rural communities in BC through a distributed model of undergraduate medical education (DME). For its Northern Medical Program (NMP), whose goal is to train physicians for northern and rural communities, a novel admissions tool, the Rural and Remote Suitability Score (RRSS) was developed. The RRSS was designed to provide an objective measure of undergraduate medical applicants' affinity for training in rural, remote, and/or northern settings and those most likely to practice family medicine in such communities.
Methods
The RRSS is a self-report screening tool that is used as part of the admissions process to the NMP. The RRSS assesses students in four categories 1) Rural lived experiences, 2) Self-Reliance and Independence, 3) Rural related activities, and 4) other information including ties to rural areas and rural mentors. An adjusted total score RRSS is generated combining all categories. Practice locations were scored on a 6-point scale based on the BC Rural Subsidiary Agreement designation and population size. Practice locations were obtained from the College of Physicians of BC, the Canadian Medical Directory and alumni data.
Results
Preliminary analyses of RRSS scores of graduating classes from 2008-2016 (n=245) indicated a significant positive correlation between RRSS adjusted total score and recruitment location r = 0.16, p < .05. Furthermore, it was found that 59% of the students who chose NMP as their first-choice ranking of the 4 DME sites of UBC pursued a career in Family Medicine.
Conclusion
There is a positive relationship between the RRSS score and rural practice location. This supports the use of the RRSS as an admissions tool for rural DME. The results also demonstrate that students are more likely to pursue family medicine if they attend the Northern Medical Program, which was one of the purviews of the distributed site.
Keyword 1
Rural and Remote
Keyword 2
Recruitment
Keyword 3
Retention
Level of Training
Post Graduate
Abstract Themes
Admissions
Additional Theme (First choice)
Distributed Medical Education
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
Tammy Klassen-Ross
Term 1
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
