Supporting Veterinary Preceptors in a Distributed Model of Education: A Faculty Development Needs Assessment.

Effective faculty development for veterinary preceptors requires knowledge about their learning needs and delivery preferences. Veterinary preceptors at community practice locations in Alberta, Canada, were surveyed to determine their confidence in teaching ability and interest in nine faculty development topics. The study included 101 veterinarians (48.

Recruitment and retention of physicians in rural Alberta: the spousal perspective.

Introduction: The overall geographic distribution of physicians in Canada, including Alberta, is misaligned with the population distribution. Some strategies, such as debt repayment, are currently in practice to increase recruitment and retention of physicians in rural locations. Of the factors influencing choice of practice location, 'spousal influence' is considered to play a significant role in recruitment and retention of physicians in literature.

Practice locations of longitudinal integrated clerkship graduates: a matched-cohort study.

Introduction: Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) have been introduced as an innovative model to impart medical education. In Canada, most LIC experiences are situated in rural communities. Studies have reported equivalence in graduates from rural LICs and traditional rotation-based clerkships (RBCs) in their performance in residency, as well as in national medical licensure examinations.

Exploring the Teaching Motivations, Satisfaction, and Challenges of Veterinary Preceptors: A Qualitative Study.

Optimization of clinical veterinary education requires an understanding of what compels veterinary preceptors in their role as clinical educators, what satisfaction they receive from the teaching experience, and what struggles they encounter while supervising students in private practice. We explored veterinary preceptors' teaching motivations, enjoyment, and challenges by undertaking a thematic content analysis of 97 questionnaires and 17 semi-structured telephone interviews. Preceptor motivations included intrinsic factors (obligation to the profession, maintenance of competence, satisfaction) and extrinsic factors (promotion of the veterinary field, recruitment).

Determinants of an urban origin student choosing rural practice: a scoping review.

Introduction: The shortage of physicians in rural and remote communities is an ongoing problem. Many studies have shown that the rural background of a student (ie rural origin) is a primary factor in recruiting physicians for practice in rural communities. Scoping reviews are primarily done to gauge the extent of literature on the research question at hand, typically with an intent that future research in that area is a constructive addition to pre-existing knowledge.

Rural longitudinal integrated clerkships: changing interests and demographics of medical students.

Introduction: The University of Calgary Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (UCLIC) is an integrated curriculum of at least 32 weeks' duration based in rural communities. Rural LICs have been proposed as a method to respond to the needs of underserved rural communities; therefore, assessing evolving learner interest and demographics over time is of importance to rural communities.

Methods: Three surveys were administered to first-year medical students at the University of Calgary from the classes of 2009, 2010 and 2015.

Effect of the discipline of formal faculty advisors on medical student experience and career interest.

Objective: To examine whether the discipline (family medicine vs other specialty) of formally assigned faculty advisors affected medical student experience and career interest.

Design: Survey.

Setting: University of Calgary in Alberta.

Specialty resident perceptions of the impact of a distributed education model on practice location intentions.

Objectives: There is an increased focus internationally on the social mandate of postgraduate training programs. This study explores specialty residents' perceptions of the impact of the University of Calgary's (UC) distributed education rotations on their self-perceived likelihood of practice location, and if this effect is influenced by resident specialty or stage of program.

Methods: Residents participating in the UC Distributed Royal College Initiative (DistRCI) between July 2010 and June 2013 completed an online survey following their rotation.

Beyond bricks and mortar: a rural network approach to preclinical medical education.

Background: Countries with expansive rural regions often experience an unequal distribution of physicians between rural and urban communities. A growing body of evidence suggests that the exposure to positive rural learning experiences has an influence on a physician's choice of practice location. Capitalizing on this observation, many medical schools have developed approaches that integrate rural exposure into their curricula during clerkship.

Academic performance of longitudinal integrated clerkship versus rotation-based clerkship students: a matched-cohort study.

Purpose: Prior studies suggest that students on a longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) have comparable academic performance to those on a rotation-based clerkship (RBC); however, most of these studies did not adjust for preclerkship academic performance. The objective of this study was to compare the academic performance of LIC and RBC students matched on prior academic performance over a three-year period.

Method: Each LIC student in the University of Calgary classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011 (n = 34) was matched with four RBC students (n = 136) of similar prior academic performance.

Exposure and attitudes toward interprofessional teams: a three-year prospective study of longitudinal integrated clerkship versus rotation-based clerkship students.

This study explored exposure to, and attitudes toward, interprofessional (IP) teams between third-year longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) and traditional rotation-based clerkship (RBC) students at the University of Calgary medical school. Students completed a survey pre-post 32-week LIC or 6-week rural, regional or urban RBC family medicine rotations. Pre and post rotation surveys were completed by 213 (48%) students (LIC = 33/34; rural = 76/152; regional = 24/46; urban = 80/208).

Perceived preparedness for family practice: does rural background matter?

Introduction: Rural background and the ability to adjust to rural practice are strong predictors of recruitment and retention of rural physicians. The degree to which rural background and being prepared for practice interrelate may provide insight into efforts aimed at increasing the supply of rural physicians. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between family medicine graduates' rural or urban background and their self-reported preparedness for practice.

Going the distance: early results of a distributed medical education initiative for Royal College residencies in Canada.

Background: There is a shortage of specialty physicians practising in rural Canada: only 2.4% of Canadian specialist physicians practise rurally. Numerous strategies have been proposed and attempted that aim to increase the number of rural physicians.

Locum practice by recent family medicine graduates.

Objective: To explore the demographic characteristics of recent Alberta family medicine residency graduates choosing locum practice, as well as their reasons for choosing and leaving locum practice and the frustrations and rewards of locum placements.

Design: Web-based and mailed cross-sectional survey and interviews.

Setting: The family medicine residency training programs at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta.