Table 3. Adjusted Associations between Physician Characteristics and Odds of Passing the July 2009 American Board of Family Medicine Recertification Examination by Two Rural Definitions
CharacteristicsModerate Definition*Conservative Definition†
Rurality
    RuralReferenceReference
    Metropolitan0.67 (0.54–0.83)0.56 (0.42–0.74)
Organization of practice
    GroupReferenceReference
    Independent (solo)0.45 (0.35–0.58)0.48 (0.34–0.68)
    Other0.98 (0.77–1.26)1.11 (0.80–1.54)
Sex
    MaleReferenceReference
    Female0.82 (0.66–1.03)0.81 (0.60–1.10)
Age, per year increase0.95 (0.93–0.96)0.94 (0.93–0.96)
Medical training
    United States and CanadaReferenceReference
    International0.21 (0.17–0.27)0.23 (0.17–0.32)
Degree
    MDReferenceReference
    DO0.28 (0.20–0.39)0.31 (0.20–0.48)
Academic appointment
    NoneReferenceReference
    Yes, full-time1.42 (0.81–2.49)1.61 (0.79–3.31)
    Yes, part-time1.19 (0.93–1.54)1.26 (0.90–1.76)
Any other certification held
    NoReferenceReference
    Yes1.40 (0.74–2.68)1.04 (0.49–2.24)

  • Data are odds ratios (95% confidence intervals).

  • ↵* Moderate rural definition: rural ≤25,000 in community, metropolitan≥ 500,000 in community.

  • ↵† Conservative rural definition: rural ≤10,000 in community, metropolitan ≥1,000,000 in community.