Will Australian rural clinical schools be an effective workforce strategy? Early indications of their positive effect on intern choice and rural career interest.

Objective: To use short-term indicators (hospital internship choice, and interest in a future rural career) to assess how the University of Queensland rural clinical school is meeting its program objectives.

Design: Cross-sectional quantitative data collected through self-report questionnaires.

Setting: University of Queensland rural clinical school (UQRCS).

Participants: Year 4 students who attended the UQRCS for their entire clinical year in 2006.

Results: Most students were from an urban background. Over the year, interest in a future rural medical career increased measurably across the cohort. The most important factors in choosing to study at the UQRCS were the quality of teaching, level of student contact with clinical teachers, increased patient access, and accommodation facilities. Comparison of graduates' choice of internship location for 2006 compared with 2005 showed a trend away from urban or metropolitan toward regional or rural hospitals.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that the primary attraction of UQRCS is the quality of education, and rural undergraduate training is a popular choice for urban students. Although the long-term effect on rural medical workforce remains to be determined, the trend at UQRCS of new graduates choosing non-urban internships is encouraging.