Office of Medical Education, University of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis, MN.
Fam Med. 2021 Nov;53(10):864-870. doi: 10.22454/FamMed.2021.563022.
The Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP) at the University of Minnesota Medical School (UMMS) is a 9-month rural longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) for third-year medical students built on a foundation of family medicine. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between participation in the RPAP program and the desired workforce outcomes of practice in Minnesota, primary care specialty (particularly family medicine), and rural practice.
We analyzed workforce outcomes for UMMS graduates who completed postgraduate training between 1975 and 2017, comparing RPAP participants (n=1,217) to noparticipants (n=7,928). We identified graduates through internal UMMS databases linked to the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile and the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry. We identified workforce outcomes of rural practice, practice in Minnesota, primary care specialty, and family medicine specialty based on practice specialty and practice location data available through the AMA and NPI data sets.
Proportionally, more RPAP graduates practice in state (65.7% vs 54.4%, P<.01), in primary care (69.0% vs 33.4%, P<.01), in family medicine (61.1% vs 17.3%, P<.01), and rurally (41.2% vs 13.9%, P<.01) than non-RPAP graduates.
We demonstrate a significant association between participation in RPAP and a career in family medicine, rural practice, and primary care, all outcomes that promote meeting urgent rural workforce needs.
明尼苏达大学医学院（UMMS）的农村医师助理计划（RPAP）是一项为期 9 个月的农村纵向综合实习（LIC），面向三年级医学生，以家庭医学为基础。本研究的目的是检验参与 RPAP 项目与明尼苏达州、初级保健专业（特别是家庭医学）和农村实践的预期劳动力成果之间的关系。
我们分析了 1975 年至 2017 年期间完成研究生培训的 UMMS 毕业生的劳动力成果，将 RPAP 参与者（n=1217）与非参与者（n=7928）进行比较。我们通过内部 UMMS 数据库与美国医学协会（AMA）医师主文件和国家提供者标识符（NPI）注册中心链接来识别毕业生。我们根据 AMA 和 NPI 数据集提供的实践专业和实践地点数据，确定农村实践、明尼苏达州实践、初级保健专业和家庭医学专业的劳动力成果。
比例上，更多的 RPAP 毕业生在州内（65.7%对 54.4%，P<.01）、在初级保健（69.0%对 33.4%，P<.01）、在家庭医学（61.1%对 17.3%，P<.01）和农村地区（41.2%对 13.9%，P<.01）实践，而非 RPAP 毕业生。
我们证明了参与 RPAP 与家庭医学、农村实践和初级保健职业之间存在显著关联，所有这些结果都有助于满足农村劳动力的迫切需求。
