Are you a pre-med or med school student debating the pros and cons of rural practice? Maybe you’ve thought about practicing in a rural area but have been steered away from it by friends or teachers. Without a doubt, there is a stigma surrounding rural and primary care practice that runs rampant in U.S. medical schools.

Here’s the script… Rural docs don’t have a life. Primary care docs get less respect than specialists. Rural practitioners are isolated and they don’t have the resources of their urban and suburban counterparts. The list goes on … and while rural practitioners certainly face challenges, the advantages of practicing medicine in a rural area might surprise you.

You’ll see it all. As a rural primary care practitioner, you will undoubtedly see a broader scope of cases than a city doc. Furthermore, the lack of nearby specialists in most rural settings means you can provide a wider variety of services. Instead of referring patients to someone else, you will often find yourself making diagnoses and performing procedures your urban counterparts wouldn’t get the opportunity to touch.

You’ll really get to know your patients. Since you will be making more medical decisions for your patients, you will find yourself more involved in all aspects of their care and their family’s care. This continuity will result in a better understanding of the many factors affecting each family’s health issues, and a greater chance to impact those issues with more holistic and long term solutions.

Your schedule will be flexible. While it’s true that you might work more in an average week as a rural physician than an urban practitioner, you may also find a certain flexibility in your schedule. You may find that you deal with less bureaucracy than docs who work for larger, urban institutions. You might also find that the nature of the caseload makes your on-call life less hectic than it would be in a more populated area.

Your salary will go farther. It is true that you may be paid less per service than your urban colleagues, but the diversity of your practice will mean you’ll often get your hands on more highly-compensated procedures than urban primary care docs. Furthermore, living in a rural area usually means you can get a bigger house for less money, and your overall cost of living will be lower than it would be in a big city. And that means more cool gadgets and fun vacations!

You’ll have closer relationships with your patients and colleagues. Rural communities tend to give you more personal contact with the people around you. You will often provide medical treatment to friends, neighbors, and fellow church members, as well as multiple generations of the same family. Your work relationships will benefit as well, since you and your colleagues will share the bond of rural practice and will be more likely to support rather than compete with each other.

You’ll enjoy the beauty and slower pace of rural life. While cities have their own beauty and offer much in the way of entertainment, living in a rural area often gives you more access to the great outdoors, hunting and fishing excursions, and tends to promote a more relaxed lifestyle. You can get where you want to go easily and quickly, and rush hour traffic is nonexistent.

You’ll learn more than you ever thought you’d know. Practicing medicine is always a lifelong commitment to learning, but as a rural physician, you will find this to be especially true. The nature of practice in rural areas will constantly challenge you to stay current and learn new things, ensuring that you remain a well-rounded, capable physician.

For a more in-depth look at the pros, cons, and myths surrounding rural practice, check out the latest issue of the AAMC’s Choices newsletter, For Consideration: A Career in Rural Practice. If you’re currently a student at UAMS and would like more information about opportunities in rural practice, please e-mail Pat Vannatta at VannattaPatriciaM@uams.edu.

Finally, we at the UAMS Area Health Education Centers are committed to training rural practitioners throughout the state. The following list of 6 AHEC facilities currently have family practice residency programs geared toward rural practice.

• AHEC Northwest in Fayetteville
• AHEC Northeast in Jonesboro
• AHEC Pine Bluff
• AHEC South Arkansas in El Dorado
• AHEC Southwest in Texarkana
• AHEC Fort Smith

If you’re currently a student, what have you heard about practicing in a rural setting? What has discouraged you from rural medicine? What has attracted you to it? If you’re currently a physician practicing in a rural area, what do you find most rewarding? What do you find most challenging? We would love to hear from you in the comments section below.