Submission ID 69603
| Code | OFV 1-4 |
|---|---|
| Category | General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation) |
| Type | Oral |
| Sub Type | Education Research |
| Will the presenter be a: | Other |
| Presenter Other | Research Assistant |
| Title | Education influences on the Geographic Disposition of Family Physicians |
| Background/Purpose | The problem of family physician maldistribution has been a consistent challenge for health human resource planners for decades. Patients with poor access to a family physician are less likely to receive comprehensive healthcare, timely diagnosis, or specialist care; measures of access directly linked to health outcomes. The Canadian medical education system may present opportunities to encourage medical students to eventually practice in underserved areas. |
| Methods | A retrospective observational study was conducted to develop models of association between personal and education factors in students who graduated from McMaster University's MD Program between 2010 and 2015 and subsequently completed CFPC-accredited residency program. Study data included the postal codes of each subject's residence during secondary school, and the locations of their pre-clerkship, clerkship, residency, and eventual practice. Postal code data were indexed to Health Region Peer Groups, and of National Neighbourhood Income Quintiles. Logistic regression models were developed for each dependent variable (i.e., practice location as expressed by each index). |
| Results | Data for 347 individuals were included. The models revealed consistent significant associations between locations of postgraduate medical training and eventual practice locations across a variety of indices (P= <0.001-0.035). Index-specific analyses also showed that the place of secondary school education is often associated with eventual family practice location (P= 0.027-0.041). |
| Conclusion | Medical educators may wish to consider the value of pairing preferential selection policies with distributed postgraduate residency training as a means of promoting a better geographic distribution of family physicians. |
| Keyword 1 | Physician maldistribution |
| Keyword 2 | Policy |
| Keyword 3 | Family Physician |
| Level of Training | General |
| Abstract Themes | Distributed Medical Education |
| Additional Theme (First choice) | Postgraduate |
| Additional Theme (Second Choice) | Undergraduate |
| Additional Theme (Third Choice) | Admission |
| Authors | Asiana Elma, McMaster University Asiana Elma, McMaster University Dorothy Bakker, McMaster University Gina Agarwal, McMaster University Monica Aggarwal, University of Toronto Neil Johnston, McMaster University Meera Mahmud, McMaster University Lawrence Grierson, McMaster University |
