Scaling up changes in doctors’ education for rural retention: a comment on World Health Organization recommendations

is clearer in the case of doctors than in the cases of nurses and mid-level health workers, because the latter more often send remittances to rural families, offsetting some of the harms to rural populations. 3 In regions where shortages in rural doctors are at critical levels, educators ought to transform, rather than merely supplement, the status quo. The stated primary goal of most medical education in those regions should be to prepare doctors for assisting the underserved, typically in local rural and public-sector practice. Core classes, central cases and role models should reflect this commit ment, as should the admissions policy. A considerable portion of training should take place in underserved rural settings. From an ethical standpoint, public and donor-funded medical education in such regions ought to implement a nearcomplete focus on preparing doctors for practice in underserved settings, until the shortages abate. Such commitment to the under