Of family physicians who perform cesarean sections, more than half do so in rural communities and 38.6% provide sections counties without any obstetrician/gynecologists. As policymakers the United States struggle with a widening landscape of ‘obstetrical deserts,’ efforts to adequately train physician workforce prepared could help maintain access local obstetric services reduce perinatal morbid...

Background & purpose: Since 2005, a reform known as Rural Insurance and Family Medicine Scheme has introduced to primary health care network in Iran in rural areas and small towns. The content of the reform implies a substantial change in those aspects of health centers that mainly could be categorized as structural quality. Although, this is the requirement of all health care providers, they a...

INTRODUCTION Few studies have examined the effect of clinical teaching on patient satisfaction in rural and community-based settings. We sought to examine whether patient satisfaction differed when patients were seen by a physician alone or by a physician and medical student in these settings. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study in rural and community-based settings in southern Ontar...

OBJECTIVE To quantify the total contribution to generalist care made by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) in Washington State. DATA SOURCES State professional licensure renewal survey data from 1998-1999. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional. Data on medical specialty, place of practice, and outpatient visits performed were used to estimate productivity of generalist physicia...

Palliative care is a routine, creative and important part of rural practice, well suited to practitioners who are used to finding practical solutions for their patients' care. A simple, clear approach may be effective for the physician, the patient and his family.

INTRODUCTION The geographic maldistribution of physicians (their concentration in urban areas and shortage in rural areas) has long been an important political issue in post-war Japan. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term transition in the geographic distribution of physicians, and to reveal which rural physician characteristics predict their retention in rural areas after 22 years. ...

Access to obstetric services in rural areas has been and continues to be a challenge. 4 When available, much of the obstetric care in these areas has been provided by family physicians. I ,5 Unfortunately, the number of family physicians who practice obstetrics has been in decline. In 1996 only 26% of active members of the American Academy of Family Physicians included obstetrics in their pract...

OBJECTIVE To describe the relationships between rural practice and the personal and medical education characteristics of medical students and residents. DESIGN Cross-sectional, mailed survey. SETTING Manitoba. PARTICIPANTS Of 2578 physician graduates of the University of Manitoba from 1965 to 2000 who were surveyed, 1269 (49%) responded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Whether physicians had ever...