Practice location preferences of Alabama medical students.

Factors that help determine physicians' practice locations and specialties were listed by 396 students and 103 medical school faculty members at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. The students preferred practice locations similar in size to their hometowns. Their specialty choices were closely related to both practice location preferences and hometown sizes. However, there was a tendency among the students to prefer a small city (20,000 to 100,000 population) practice location irrespective of their hometown sizes or specialty choices. Factors such as spouse's preference, proximity of relatives, and financial incentives were not related to the students' practice location preferences. Faculty members reported they believed that medical education biases students toward urban and nonprimary care practice, and one-third of them said that they were role models for the students' specialty choices. However, the students said faculty members had little influence on their specialty choices while acknowledging the importance of clinical experiences. In general, Alabama medical students are similar to medical students elsewhere with respect to determinants of practice location preference.