Level of Rural Medical Education (RME), Family Medicine Effect, and Student Characteristics Before and After Rural Medical Scholars Program (RMSP) Intervention
| Campus/Track of Study | Before RMSP Intervention (1989–1996) | After RMSP Intervention (1997–2005) | Before/After P* (a:b) | RMSP Intervention† (1997–2005) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Campus | Branch | Total (a) | Main Campus | Branch | Total (b) | |||
| RME level‡ | Minimal | Moderate | Minimal | Moderate | Large | |||
| N | 838 | 294 | 1132 | 840 | 296 | 1136 | 84 | |
| Age (mean years) | 24.0 | 23.8 | 24.0 | 23.9 | 24.0 | 23.9 | .81 | 24.7 |
| Race (% white) | 88.4 | 83.7 | 87.2 | 83.8 | 79.7 | 82.7 | .003 | 90.5 |
| Sex (% male) | 65.8 | 66.0 | 65.8 | 60.5 | 58.1 | 59.9 | .003 | 64.3 |
| Rural (%) | 16.3 | 20.7 | 17.5 | 15.1 | 22.3 | 17.0 | .75 | 43.2 |
| MCAT (mean score) | 29.2 | 28.4 | 29.0 | 30.1 | 29.2 | 29.9 | <.001 | 25.7 |
| 4-year graduation rate (%) | 85.8 | 84.7 | 85.5 | 88.7 | 87.8 | 88.5 | .04 | 90.5 |
| FM choice (%) | 9.7 | 24.1 | 13.4 | 3.9 | 18.9 | 7.8 | <.001 | 44.0 |
| FM effect (odds ratio)§ | 1.0 | 5.8 | 15.6 | |||||
* Variables with significant pre/post differences were candidates for control variables in the analysis.
† The intervention was the RMSP, explained below as a large-level intervention.
‡ RME level represents the incremental commitment to rural medical education on the separate campus tracks: “Minimal” for the main campus, “Moderate” for the family medicine–oriented branch campuses, and “Large” for the RMSP with a special admissions program and a prematriculation masters degree on a family medicine–oriented branch campus.
§ These odds ratios, adjusted for sex, race, MCAT score, and graduation rate, compare the odds of a student choosing to become a family medicine resident after having completed tracks of study at campuses/programs offering different levels of RME. The RMSP odds ratio is significantly greater (P < .001) than the others, and the odds ratio for the family medicine–oriented branch campuses is greater than for the main campus (P < .001).
FM, family medicine; MCAT, Medical College Admission Test.