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Ten years of graduates: A cross-sectional study of the practice location of doctors trained at a socially accountable medical school

Ten years of graduates: A cross-sectional study of the practice location of doctors trained at a socially accountable medical school

  • September 15, 2022
  • John C. Hogenbirk ,Roger P. Strasser,Margaret G. French
  • Article

This study examined the practice locations of doctors trained at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), which has programs in over 90 communities. A cross-sectional analysis of 435 graduates, 10 years after the first class, found that 92% of family physicians (FPs) who completed both undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) training at NOSM remained in northern Ontario, compared to 63% of those who completed only PG and 24% of those who completed only UG. Additionally, 28% of FPs practiced in rural Canada, compared to just 4% of specialists. Predictors of northern Ontario practice included completing both UG and PG at NOSM, PG training alone, and having a northern Ontario hometown, while rural practice was linked to a rural hometown and PG training at NOSM. These findings highlight how recruiting students from underserved areas and providing immersive regional training effectively increase physician retention in economically deprived regions.

  • Source: PLOS ONE

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Charlie Labarda, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine and Dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM-SHS), where he has taught for more than a decade. He is a regular member of the National research Council of the Philippines, belonging to the Medical Sciences Division (Division III). Before joining the medical faculty at UPM-SHS he trained in at the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Philippine General Hospital. He finished his PhD in the Department of Psychology at The University of Hong Kong, his Master in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management (high honors), Doctor of Medicine (cum laude) at the Our Lady of Fatima University-College of Medicine, and his undergraduate Social Sciences studies (cum laude) at UP Tacloban College. He was a topnotcher in the Physician Licensure Examination (8th place).

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