JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Rural communities often face significant challenges in attracting and retaining healthcare professionals. By encouraging students from these communities to consider healthcare careers, we increase the likelihood that they will return to their hometowns to practice medicine, improving access. A previous study conducted in 2020 analyzed the effects of a single educational workshop at a rural high school in New Hampshire. The results suggested that students had a better understanding of the medical field.

Objective:

This study aims to analyze how continuous educational outreach initiatives affect rural high school students’ attitudes toward a healthcare career. By providing recurrent questionnaires alongside a presentation series, we can analyze if our impact is being met.

Methods:

Data collection took place at a rural high school over four sessions and spaced approximately one month apart. During each session, a 20-minute presentation was given on various healthcare topics. Presentations outlined frequently seen conditions, medical personnel involved in the care of those conditions, daily roles, education path of each of those medical personnel, and clinical case presentations. Immediately before and after each presentation, participants completed a voluntary survey assessing their interest in healthcare through Likert Scale questions.

Results:

Likert scale questions from before and after the presentation series indicated a significant increase in interest in a career in healthcare and the likelihood of going into a career in healthcare (p <0.0329, p <0.0437).

Conclusions:

This data shows that through continuous educational outreach, we have increased interest and heightened likelihood of pursuing a healthcare career. This supports future endeavors to bring healthcare series to rural high schools, ultimately in efforts to increase the rural healthcare workforce in the future.