Association between dedicated rural training year and the likelihood of becoming a general surgeon in a small town.

Importance: Although projections of surgical workforce predict an increased need for general surgeons, especially in rural areas, graduates of residency programs increasingly enter urban or metropolitan specialty practice.

Objective: To determine whether fourth-year residents at a hospital in a rural setting were more likely to enter general surgery practice than a specialty.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In 2002, we initiated a year-long program for fourth-year residents.