摘要：Background and Objectives: There is a shortage of physicians in rural communities in the United States. More than other types of primary care physicians, family physicians are the foundation for care in rural areas. 1 There are also critical shortages of other specialties such as general surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, and psychiatry in rural America. 2-7 This study assessed student participation in the University of Washington School of Medicine’s (UWSOM) Targeted Rural Underserved Track (TRUST) program as a predictor for family medicine (FM) and needed workforce specialty residency match. Methods: The study group was 156 medical students from 2009-2014; 102 were accepted to the TRUST program compared to a control group of 54 who were not accepted into the TRUST program but did matriculate to UWSOM. Student characteristics for the two groups were compared using t tests. Logistic regression analysis determined whether acceptance in TRUST predicted the outcomes measures of FM residency match or residency match into a needed rural physician workforce specialty; t tests compared match rates to family medicine for TRUST applicants and graduates, UWSOM graduates, and US allopathic seniors. Results: TRUST program graduates had the same FM residency match rate and match rate in needed workforce specialties as the control group. The FM match rate for TRUST graduates was 29.1% compared to UWSOM at 16.9% and US seniors at 8.7% ( P <.001). Conclusions: Although match rates in FM and needed workforce specialties were not different in accepted versus not accepted groups, all TRUST applicants had an FM match rate that approaches 30%, which is higher than the general UWSOM class and the United States. In order to help reach the goal of 25% of medical students matching into FM by 2030, medical schools should consider having a rural program and using rural-focused admissions widely.
