Evaluation of a pre-professional pathway program: perspectives of former students in the rural pre-medicine program at Selkirk College.

Background: Having a rural background is one of the most predictive factors in eventually having a rural practice, but people from rural areas face several barriers to post-secondary education. Pre-professional rural pathway initiatives are a potential solution. The Rural Pre-Medicine Program (RPM) at Selkirk College, British Columbia was developed to provide students with the credits necessary to apply to medicine and other health professional programs, an introduction to rural healthcare issues, and a unique and comprehensive support program to enable success.

Supported rural pre-medicine: a descriptive evaluation of a novel undergraduate program's first cohorts.

Selkirk College's Rural Pre-Medicine (RPM) program launched in 2014 as a unique undergraduate initiative designed to increase the number of students who prepare for future careers in rural healthcare and, in the longterm, to play a role in reducing rural health disparities. Preliminary evaluation indicates most students in the program have rural backgrounds and the majority of graduates with follow-up data go on to further health science programming, including medical school. Challenges with retention have been identified.