Associations between rural background and where South Australian general practitioners work

Objective: To determine the association between rural background on practic e location of general practitioners (GPs) (rural or urban). Design: Comparison of data from two postal surveys. Subjects: 268 rural and 236 urban GPs practising in South Australia. Main outcome measures: Association between practice location (rural or urba n) and demographic characteristics, training, qualifications, and rural bac kground. Results: Rural GPs were younger than urban GPs (mean age 47 versus 50 years , P<0,01) and more likely to be male (81% versus 67%, P=0.001), to be Austr alian-born (72% Versus 61%, P=0,01), to have a partner (95% versus 85%, P= 0.001), and to have children (94% Versus 85%, P=0.001). Similar proportions of rural and urban GPs were trained in Australia and were Fellows of the R oyal Australian College of General Practitioners, but more rural GPs were v ocationally registered (94% versus 84%, P=0,001). Rural GPs were more likel y to have grown up in the country (37% versus 27%, P= 0,02), to have receiv ed primary (33% versus 19%, P=0,001) and secondary (25% versus 13%, P=0,001 ) education there, and to have a partner who grew up in the country (49% Ve rsus 24%, P=0.001). In multivariate analysis, only primary education in the country (odds ratio [OR], 2.43; 95% CI, 1.09-5.56) and partner of rural ba ckground (OR, 3.14; 95% CI, 1.96-5.10) were independently associated with r ural practice. Conclusion: Our findings support the policy of promoting entry to medical s chool of students with a rural background and provide an argument for polic ies that address the needs of partners and maintain quality primary and sec ondary education in the country.