Geier Anne-Kathrin, Heuser Anja, Bleckwenn Markus, Deutsch Tobias
Institute of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Med Educ Online. 2025 Dec;30(1):2497325. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2025.2497325. Epub 2025 May 6.
The lack of physicians in rural areas is a universal problem. To increase the attractiveness of rural practice for medical students, the contribution of medical schools is undisputed. However, much of the evidence on interventions before and during undergraduate education comes from countries with large areas and low population density like Australia and Canada. In Germany, selective admission to medical studies for students who agree to become rural general practitioners is still a new concept. The aim of this study was to assess the sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes and career aspirations of the rural doctor quota students from one medical school in Germany compared to their non-quota counterparts. For this cross-sectional study, a paper-based anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all first year medical students at Leipzig University in two consecutive study years.Descriptive analyses and group differences were calculated using SPSS. The response rate was 87.3% with = 604 completed questionnaires and 40 (6.6%) students self-classified as rural doctor quota students. Quota students grew up in rural areas significantly more often than their counterparts and had more working experience in the medical field. General practice was the preferred career option for 64.1% (25/39, versus 2.7% [15/549] of non-quota students). Working self-employed in one's own medical practice was the preferred option for 71.1% (27/38) of quota students (vs. 28.0% [153/546] of non-quota students). Quota students valued a broad spectrum of patients, a long-term doctor-patient relationship, employee management and prestige more highly than their fellow students. Students from the rural doctor quota largely exhibit characteristics and attitudes that are compatible with future rural practice, despite showing little differences in sociodemographic items such as age and marital status. Not all students agree with the program objective. To demonstrate an impact on the health services, longitudinal data is necessary to monitor career choices over time.
农村地区医生短缺是一个普遍问题。为提高农村医疗工作对医学生的吸引力，医学院校的作用无可争议。然而，许多关于本科教育之前和期间干预措施的证据来自澳大利亚和加拿大等地域广阔且人口密度低的国家。在德国，同意成为农村全科医生的学生被选择性录取进入医学专业学习仍是一个新概念。本研究的目的是评估德国一所医学院的农村医生配额学生与非配额学生相比的社会人口学特征、态度和职业抱负。对于这项横断面研究，在连续两个学年向莱比锡大学的所有一年级医学生发放了纸质匿名问卷。使用SPSS进行描述性分析和组间差异计算。回复率为87.3%，共收到604份完整问卷，40名（6.6%）学生自我归类为农村医生配额学生。配额学生在农村地区长大的比例明显高于非配额学生，并且在医疗领域有更多工作经验。全科医疗是64.1%（25/39）的配额学生首选的职业选择（相比之下，非配额学生中只有2.7%[15/549]选择全科医疗）。71.1%（27/38）的配额学生更喜欢自主经营自己的医疗诊所（相比之下，非配额学生中这一比例为28.0%[153/546]）。与非配额学生相比，配额学生更看重广泛的患者群体、长期的医患关系、员工管理和声望。尽管在年龄和婚姻状况等社会人口学项目上差异不大，但农村医生配额学生在很大程度上表现出与未来农村医疗工作相契合的特征和态度。并非所有学生都认同该项目目标。为证明对医疗服务的影响，需要纵向数据来长期监测职业选择情况。
