Contexts: The consumption of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in rural areas is a significant contemporary health care issue. An understanding of CAM use in rural health can provide a new perspective on health beliefs and practice as well as on some of the core service delivery issues facing rural health care generally. Purpose: This…

Purpose: Studies have shown that women who engage in high levels of physical activity have higher rates of cancer screening, including Papanicalaou (Pap) tests. Because American Indian (AI) women are at high risk for cervical cancer morbidity and mortality, we examined Pap screening prevalence and assessed whether physical activity was associated…

Purpose: To show the impact of changing the definition of what is "rural" on the outcomes of a rural medical education program. Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 643 graduates under obligatory rural service and 1,699 graduates after serving their obligation, all from Jichi Medical University (JMU), a binding rural education program in…

Context: Over a decade ago, leaders in rural medical education established the Rural Medical Educators (RME) Group, an interest group within the National Rural Health Association, to support faculty in rural medical education programs. This group has convened an annual RME conclave since 2006. In 2008, this conclave convened 15 national leaders in…

Obtaining meaningful information from statistically valid and reliable measures of the quality of care for disease-specific care provided in small rural hospitals is limited by small numbers of cases and different definitive care capacities. An alternative approach may be to aggregate and analyze patient services that reflect more generalized care…

Increased interest in the measurement of hospital quality has been stimulated by accrediting bodies, purchaser coalitions, government agencies, and other entities. This paper examines quality measurement for hospitals in rural settings. We seek to identify rural hospital quality measures that reflect quality in all hospitals and that are sensitive…

West Virginia University's Recruitable Community Project provides rural communities with community education on recruiting physicians and health personnel, as well as planning assistance, assessments, and recommendations on broad-based community development to enhance recruitment potential. This model of community training and development has…

Survey responses from 1,000 primary-care physicians (PCPs) in Florida showed that nearly half of rural PCPs were foreign-born. Overall and for native-born PCPs, rural practice was related to rural upbringing and exposure to rural medical practice during training. Rural PCPs were more likely than others to be participants in the National Health…

In Alabama's Black Belt counties, two organizations collaborate to recruit and prepare rural minority and disadvantaged students for health care careers. Premedical students and other college students in the programs shadow health professionals, visit medical schools, complete health projects, participate in summer seminars and tutorials, receive…

Rural community-based graduate medical education programs in family practice generate highly trained physicians who typically settle and practice in rural communities. In response to federal funding cutbacks and revised accreditation requirements that threatened its program, the Colville, Washington, Mount Carmel Hospital agreed to fully fund its…

A survey of 58 medical residents participating in a 1-2 month rural elective and 51 matched nonparticipants found that participants' interest in rural practice increased significantly after the elective. Respondents suggested means to increase rural career choice, barriers to rural practice, and ways of increasing the rural elective's influence on…

Rural training tracks (RTT) encourage family medicine residents to enter into rural practice. Studies reveal that 76 percent of RTT graduates are practicing in rural America and that graduates feel prepared for rural practice. However, RTTs produced only 107 graduates during 1989-99. Without significant investment, this model can not supply enough…

A partnership for medical student education and community health improvement between the Medical College of Wisconsin and a rural Wisconsin area illustrates four stages of partnership development and advantages over traditional student placement. Two elements key to such partnerships are long-term commitment and the ability and willingness of…

To produce more rural physicians, the College of Family Physicians of Canada recommends providing earlier and more extensive rural medicine experience for all undergraduate medical students, developing rural postgraduate training programs, providing third-year optional special and advanced rural family-medicine skills training, and making advanced…

A survey of 53 obstetrical and rural fellowship programs found that graduates of rural health fellowships were more likely to locate in rural areas. Almost all graduates from obstetrical and rural health programs attained general hospital privileges in family practice and low-risk obstetrics, and a significant number attained privileges in…