Medical school outreach and mentorship for rural secondary school students: a pilot of the Southwestern Ontario Medical Mentorship Program.

Introduction: Rural communities in Canada face challenges with physician recruitment. Physicians from rural backgrounds are more likely to practise in rural areas; however, rural students are underrepresented in medical schools. To address this, the Southwestern Ontario Medical Mentorship Program (SWOMMP) was created to expose rural secondary school students to medical careers.

Methods: This pilot project involved a school-based interactive session run by rural medical students on paths to medicine, medical specialties and skills workshops of roughly 2.5 hours targeted to grades 10-12 university-level students in rural southwestern Ontario. Two sessions were held, 1 in a town with a population of 20 000 and the other in a town with a population of 5000. A survey was administered before and after the session to assess changes in interest in medical careers and in perceived barriers.

Results: Forty-five students participated in the sessions. After the sessions, 32 students (71%) were considering a career in health care, compared to 26 (58%) before the sessions. Almost all students (43 [96%]) found the session helpful or extremely helpful, and all reported they would recommend it to other classes. Finances, grades and length of schooling were the most commonly perceived barriers to pursuing a career in medicine; fewer students had concerns about finances and length of schooling after the sessions. Twenty-nine students (64%) enrolled in longitudinal mentorship with a medical student.

Conclusion: This pilot project showed that a rural secondary school outreach program run by medical students can increase high school students' interest in medical careers. The project will continue and aims to expand and improve using the pilot study's data.