Osteopathic physician location and specialty choice.

Physician distribution continues as a major national issue despite the projected oversupply of physicians by 1990. Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM) in Kirksville, Missouri, has a high percentage of its graduates going into rural primary care. In this study of physicians who graduated from KCOM from 1930 to 1974, the authors sought to identify the factors influencing physicians to select rural primary care. The size of the physician's hometown, KCOM curricular experiences, and faculty role models were the most important factors influencing a physician to select rural primary care. While these findings are similar to other studies, this is the first to examine osteopathic medicine.