An Invitation to Walk a Mile in Their Shoes: A Rural Immersion Experience for College Pre-medical Students

Purpose To report the outcomes of the first 15 years of an entirely rurally-based college-level program designed to enhance rural students’ understanding of rural health and reinforce their potential affinity for rural practice. Method Choice of career, practice site, and evaluation results were collected from 80 program participants for the period 2003-2017. Anonymous pre- and post-survey data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney tests to compare survey results of students’ opinions of the importance of understanding traditional medical and social items when choosing a treatment option for very rural patients. Results The authors found no statistically significant difference between pre- and post- survey measures of opinions of traditional medical items. However, six of the nine social items showed a statistically significant increase (p <.05). The importance for a physician to understand social factors increased in post-test results for items of faith/spirituality, who prepares the patient’s meals, health beliefs held by the patient, the kind of work the patient does, how ready the patient is to make changes, and where the patient lives. Evaluations were positive and comments supported that the goals were accomplished. Of those completing each stage of training, 83% chose some health career, 58% chose medical school, 31% chose family medicine, and 66% chose primary care. Of those establishing medical practice, 50% chose a rural site. Conclusions Rurally-based programs may reinforce college students’ rural affinity, promoting the likelihood of completion of medical school and subsequent rural practice choice. Funding/Support: None. Human Subjects: This study was determined exempt by the Baptist Health Madisonville Institutional Review Board. Conflicts of Interest: None