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. 2023 Dec;29(1):2174258.
doi: 10.1080/13814788.2023.2174258.

Rural family medicine as a career option among Hungarian medical students

András Mohos  1   2 , Gergő József Szőllősi  3 , László Róbert Kolozsvári  4 , Jozsef Rinfel  5 , Albert Varga  1 , Maria Marko Kucsera  6 , Csenge Hargittay  7 , Peter Torzsa  7
Affiliations

Rural family medicine as a career option among Hungarian medical students

András Mohos et al. Eur J Gen Pract. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Background: The shortage of family physicians is a considerable challenge in Hungary. The number of vacant practices is increasing and the rural and deprived areas are more affected.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate medical students' attitudes towards rural family medicine.

Methods: The current study used a cross-sectional design with a self-administered questionnaire. Each of the four Hungarian medical universities was represented by their medical students from December 2019 to April 2020.

Results: The response rate was 67.3% (n = 465/691). Only 5% of the participants plan to be a family doctor, 5% of the students plan to work in rural areas. On a 5-point Likert scale (1 = 'surely not', 5 = 'surely yes'), half of the participants answered 1 or 2 to choose rural medical work, while 17.5% answered 4 or 5. There was a significant relationship between rural working plans and rural origin (OR = 1.97; p = 0.024), and the plan to work in family practice (OR = 4.90; p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Family medicine is not a popular career option among Hungarian medical students and rural medical work is even less attractive. Medical students with a rural origin and an interest in family medicine are more likely to plan to work in rural areas. More objective information and experience need to be given to medical students about rural family medicine to increase the attractiveness of the speciality.

Keywords: Career choice; Hungary; family medicine; medical student; rural medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Medical students’ origin, workplace and living place plans.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Probability of the medical students' rural work.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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