Never give up, never surrender! Even though you may have had some setbacks, you can make it! Age, MCAT, USMLE 1, and more can be made up. Keep trying!
What is a rural student interest group and how can I set one up ... ?
Why should I consider rural practice? The reward of making a difference and belonging to a community and making it a better place by your medical and non-medical contributions. Raising a family in a rural town. Opportunities to care for more than just runny noses. Having a dream, a calling, a mission, or just knowing that you are supposed to go rural.
Urban doctors take care of patients. Rural patients take care of their doctors. Urban patients know their doctors. Rural doctors know their patients. Urban physicians are more likely to be fired, whereas rural physicians usually quit, move, or retire. It's a life choice in rural health, not just an occupation. Try out this link for Satisfaction of Rural Family Physicians in Nebraska
Why Rural Practice Is Becoming a Better Choice
Supply and demand issues - With each passing year there is more rural population (still having babies there and some people are still moving rural). Over the past few years there have been fewer family physicians choosing rural practice. This means a better situation for those choosing rural practice and more say in negotiating packages (salary, covered ER, call no more than one every 4-5 days, flexible office hours, etc.) Devoted, high-quality physicians continue to choose rural practice, and small towns where health care has a future continue to prefer well-trained family physicians. Rural health systems are becoming more organized, more involved in planning for the future rather than waiting for someone to take them over. Federal changes in medicare will dramatically increase the reimbursements to rural health systems for those who are organized. Don’t choose a site that is not well on this pathway! Others need you! Attrition has removed many of the smaller and more unstable towns from consideration, but not all. Loans, salaries, reimbursement bonuses, and other incentives continue to benefit those who choose rural primary care practice.Reasons Not to Choose Rural Practice
Escaping from managed care - all physicians must manage care and improve practice behaviors, especially in rural areas. Be a benefit to medicine and just quit now if you don’t plan to keep improving your ability to manage people and resources. Don’t go rural if you are not willing to put a great deal of effort into finding the right community for your and your family. Don’t contribute to problems in rural health systems by going there for only a few short years. Go there to stay and if the community is a bad match, go somewhere else that is a good match ASAP.
If you are willing to make adjustments to the town, your practicing colleagues, and what it will take to deliver the best care that you can, you are in for the best that medicine can offer! One thing is certain, medical education cannot, by itself, prepare you for rural practice, but life experiences will!!! So take some risks and do rotations or vacations that give you challenging life experiences overseas, in needy communities, or otherwise in different situations than you have ever been.....
State and Federal Opportunities and Loan Repayments
