Big cities and bright lights: rural- and northern-trained physicians in urban practice.

Introduction: Rural medical education is increasing in popularity in Canada. This study examines why some family physicians who completed their residency training in northern Ontario decided to practise in urban centres.

Methods: We used a qualitative research method.

Graduates of northern Ontario family medicine residency programs practise where they train.

Objective: To examine where graduates of the Northeastern Ontario Family Medicine (NOFM) residency program in Sudbury and the Family Medicine North (FMN) program in Thunder Bay practise after graduation, using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Methods: Data from the Scott's Medical Database were examined. All physicians who graduated from NOFM and FMN between 1993 and 2002 were included in this analysis.