Minority recruitment to the health professions: a matched comparison six-year follow-up.

An experiential program was designed to attract minority students to health careers and to affect the supply and distribution of health manpower in a medically underserved area. A six-year follow-up study of participants and a matched comparison group of nonparticipants indicate the value of the program. Participants were found to by employed in health careers and to achieve long-term career preferences more often than nonparticipants, even though they experienced slightly more obstacles to career attainment. Although more of the participants appeared to remain in the underserved area to practice their health profession, respondents from both groups who had achieved a health career and who had been educated in the underserved area were more likely to remain in the area to practice. This study is evidence of the value of long-term follow-up evaluation.