Women physicians in a nonmetropolitan area.

The number and distribution of women physicians in a nonmetropolitan area of Illinois were identified from physician directories of 1950, 1965, 1972, and 1979; and comparisons were made with regional, state, and national data. Women physicians are less likely than men to enter nonmetropolitan practice. In the 53-county study area, 5 percent of the physicians are women, but almost three-fourths of the women are concentrated in six counties. Few women under 35 years of age are entering the 43 counties with populations under 50,000. Graduates of foreign medical schools, the majority with physician relatives also from foreign schools, constitute a sizable potion of the women physician pool in the smallest counties. The findings suggest the importance of finding ways of attracting women physicians to nonmetropolitan areas in need of such resources.