Keywords: rural medicine, family doctor, family medicine, rural curriculum, medical students

Background:

Recruiting and retaining doctors in rural areas is challenging. In Croatia, medical school curricula lack content on rural medicine and specialized training for rural practice.

Aim of the study:

This study explores the opinions and attitudes of first- and sixth-year medical students in Croatia regarding working in rural areas.

Methodology:

An online questionnaire was administered to 690 Croatian medical students in their first and final years between January 2022 and February 2023. The cross-sectional study included 13 questions, with 5 on socio-demographic data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests (chi-square) to assess group differences.

Results:

Compared to first-year students, final-year students feel less prepared by their education for rural practice (χ²= 84.287; P= 0.000) but are more interested in working in rural areas (χ²= 26.810; P= 0.000). Most students believe rural doctors need additional financial incentives, with this belief significantly stronger among final-year students (χ²= 14.192; P= 0.000). Both groups agree that rural doctors face poor working conditions (χ²= 1.524; P= 0.217).
No statistically significant differences were found regarding job interest outside city centers (Χ²= 2.041; P= 0.564) or choosing rural medical practice (Χ²= 4.795; P= 0.187) among medical students from the Universities of Osijek, Rijeka, Split, and Zagreb.
Students from rural settlements were more often interested in jobs outside the city center (72.1%) compared to those from smaller towns (60.6%), (Χ²(1)=5.142, p=.023) and larger cities (44.1%), (Χ²(1)=28.978, p=.000).

Conclusions:

Croatian medical students are interested in working in rural areas, but their education lacks adequate preparation for such practice. They view the current conditions for rural doctors as inadequate and believe that additional financial incentives are necessary. Interest in rural practice is consistent across medical faculties in Croatia, with students living in rural areas showing a higher interest in working there.