Date of Publication
2023
Abstract
Background: Windham Aging was created to analyze, primarily, ways for senior residents to age in place; a November 2022 report concluded that one of the barriers is lack of primary care professionals. The current physician workforce is aging into retirement with 48% of PCPs in Windham County being over 60 years old. Previous literature reported the following themes among primary care professionals as factors in determining retention and recruitment: financial, social, lifestyle, and community.
Methods: This research study aimed to identify strategies to enhance the recruitment of primary care professionals in rural areas of Vermont. The study team conducted interviews with family medicine residents and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students. Using a qualitative, inductive approach, the team identified key themes that could impact the recruitment of primary care professionals in rural Vermont, including a 5-point scale on previously identified factors affecting recruitment.
Results: Trainees (n=13) ranked housing, political association, community factors, and access to schools as most important. Qualitative analysis revealed that trainees’ financial incentives weigh less heavily than previous rural clinical experience and interest in living in a rural setting.
Conclusion: Recruitment of rural practitioners in Vermont is largely influenced by personal preferences regarding community attributes and exposure to rural clinical training experience.
Advisor(s)
Mark Fung, MD
Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont
Marty Hammond
Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center
Carolyn Taylor-Olson, MD
Community Agency Mentor
Subjects
Economic Stability, Health Care Access and Quality, Health Communication, Health Policy, Health-Related Quality of Life & Well-Being, Preparedness, Preventive Care, Social and Community Context, Social Determinants of Health, Workforce
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
Recommended Citation
Ferrell, Tanner L.; Halvorson-Phelan, Julia; Kruglik, Christopher; Krutyakov, Anton; Kuzina, Angelina; Landis, Anna; Lee, Joon Young; and Waeldner, Kathleen, "Recruitment of Primary Care Professionals in Rural Vermont: An analysis of factors motivating resident physicians and DNP students at UVMMC" (2023). Public Health Projects, 2008-present. 351.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/351
