Who should choose a rural LIC: A qualitative study of perceptions of students who have completed a rural longitudinal integrated clerkship.

PURPOSE

Evidence from many longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) has shown that students in LICs do as well as those in rotation-based clerkships (RBCs). Researchers now are turning to questions of how and why LICs work and for whom. This study explores the question: "Who should choose the University of Alberta's Rural LIC?"

METHODS

Reflective conversations were held with former LIC students at the end of their fourth year of the MD program. The 5-year study began in a hermeneutic phenomenological frame evolving to an iterative process of collection and analysis in the tradition of grounded theory.

RESULTS

Students' perceptions coalesced around four themes: (1) approach to learning, (2) personality, (3) attitudes and (4) career goals. The ability to adapt one's own structure for learning, a preference for learning by doing and self-directedness were all important factors.

CONCLUSION

Prospective students should be flexible, adaptable, comfortable being uncomfortable, adventuresome and embrace both the program and rural community life in order to benefit maximally from the experience. Rural LICs can be a choice for anyone, but students who have completed a rural LIC identify reasons why it may or may not be the best choice for everyone.