Barriers to College and Health Care Careers Among US Students From a Rural Community.

Introduction: Despite rural origin being a strong predictor of rural practice for health care professionals, rural students face educational barriers and are underrepresented in medical schools. The aim of this study was to identify rural high school students' perceived barriers to college and health-related careers and compare whether perceptions were similar based on gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and parental education.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey of all high school students from one rural Michigan community.