McAuliffe Tomomi, Barnett Fiona
Occupational Therapy Unit, School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Rural Remote Health. 2009 Jan-Mar;9(1):1078. Epub 2009 Mar 13.
There is a serious shortage of health professionals in rural and remote areas in Australia and world wide. The purpose of this article was to add to existing information about allied health students, particularly occupational therapy students, and rural and remote practice by reviewing the literature on occupational therapy students' perceptions of rural and remote practice. A variety of influencing factors were identified, as were the main characteristics of rural practice in relation to the future employment of students. The effect of undergraduate rural training programs on students' perceptions was identified.
The shortage of rural and remote health practitioners is well documented. Because rural and remote practice is characterised by a diversity of healthcare needs, rural health professionals need a variety of knowledge and skills. This diversity may attract rural health professionals and encourages undergraduate students to consider rural and remote practice. A student's rural background was reported to be one of the strongest factors in their decision to work rurally, and an undergraduate rural program is one useful strategy to overcome the rural health professional shortage. Undergraduate rural programs promote students' positive perceptions of rural and remote practice by exposure to a rural location, and factors such as rural fieldwork experience and fieldwork supervisors are likely to be influential. Negative influential factors include a student's desire to work as a 'specialist', and personal, social and professional factors, such as a lack of professional development opportunities in a rural setting.
The relationship between a student's rural background and the likelihood of working in a rural area is evident. However, few studies have examined the influence of the undergraduate program's subjects. Further studies should explore the influence of a student's perceptions of the undergraduate rural program on their decision to work in a rural setting.
澳大利亚以及全球的农村和偏远地区严重缺乏卫生专业人员。本文旨在通过回顾关于职业治疗专业学生对农村和偏远地区实习看法的文献，补充现有关于健康相关专业学生，尤其是职业治疗专业学生以及农村和偏远地区实习的信息。研究确定了多种影响因素，以及与学生未来就业相关的农村实习的主要特征。还确定了本科农村培训项目对学生看法的影响。
农村和偏远地区卫生从业人员短缺的情况有充分记录。由于农村和偏远地区的医疗需求具有多样性，农村卫生专业人员需要具备多种知识和技能。这种多样性可能吸引农村卫生专业人员，并鼓励本科学生考虑在农村和偏远地区实习。据报道，学生的农村背景是他们决定在农村工作的最有力因素之一，本科农村项目是克服农村卫生专业人员短缺的一项有效策略。本科农村项目通过让学生接触农村环境，促进他们对农村和偏远地区实习产生积极看法，农村实地工作经验和实地工作督导等因素可能具有影响力。负面影响因素包括学生想成为“专科医生”的愿望，以及个人、社会和专业因素，比如农村地区缺乏职业发展机会。
学生的农村背景与在农村地区工作的可能性之间的关系很明显。然而，很少有研究考察本科项目课程的影响。进一步的研究应探讨学生对本科农村项目的看法对他们在农村地区工作决定的影响。
