Pharmacy students' intention to practise in a rural setting: Measuring the impact of a rural curriculum, rural campus and rural placement on a predominantly metropolitan student cohort

OBJECTIVE: To compare pharmacy students' intention to practise in a rural setting expressed in their first year of university with that expressed during their final year. DESIGN: Longitudinal survey of students in their first and final years. SETTING: Tertiary educational institution. PARTICIPANTS: Predominantly metropolitan pharmacy students. INTERVENTIONS: Students were exposed to a rural curriculum, rural campus and rural placement or rural placement alone during their degree. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Change in proportion of students expressing an intention to practise in a rural setting following registration. RESULTS: The proportion of respondents who indicated an intention to practise in a rural setting was 21.6% (27/125) in 2006 compared with 11.2% (14/125) in 2003. This was a statistically significant increase of 10.4% (P = 0.001) over the four years. Positive influences on students' intention to practise in a rural setting were: rural background (P = 0.012); rural placement (either two weeks or 12 weeks) (P = 0.002); having been enrolled in the BPharm (Rural) (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed the work of others in that the students most likely to express an intention to practise in a rural setting were those from a rural background who elected to undertake and complete a rural degree involving a rural placement. A follow-up survey will be conducted to establish whether their stated intention as students has translated to rural practice in reality.