Participant characteristics
| Characteristic | No. of participants n = 18 |
|---|---|
| General characteristics | |
| Age during interview, yr | |
| 20–30 | 1 |
| 31–40 | 16 |
| 41–50 | 0 |
| > 50 | 1 |
| Gender | |
| Female | 10 |
| Male | 7 |
| Nonbinary | 1 |
| No. of years in independent rural practice | |
| 1 | 2 |
| 1–2 | 3 |
| 2–3 | 8 |
| 3–4 | 3 |
| 4–5 | 2 |
| Educational experiences | |
| Medical school | |
| Dalhousie University | 1 |
| NOSM University | 3 |
| University of Toronto | 2 |
| McMaster University | 2 |
| University of Ottawa | 1 |
| University of British Columbia | 1 |
| University of Saskatchewan | 1 |
| University of Montreal | 1 |
| Western University | 4 |
| Attended medical school internationally | 2 |
| Residency program | |
| McGill University | 1 |
| McMaster University | 2 |
| NOSM University | 7 |
| University of Ottawa | 2 |
| University of Saskatchewan | 1 |
| University of Toronto | 5 |
| Rural exposure in medical school | |
| 1–4 wk | 3 |
| 5 wk–3 mo | 10 |
| 4–8 mo | 2 |
| > 8 mo | 3 |
| Rural exposure in residency | |
| 0 wk | 1 |
| 5 wk–3 mo | 7 |
| 4–8 mo | 4 |
| > 8 mo | 0 |
| Rural program | 6 |
| Optional third year of residency training (a.k.a. “plus one”) | |
| Completed | 0* |
| Features of first year of practice | |
| Partner when transitioning to practice | |
| Yes | 11 |
| No | 7 |
| Children when transitioning to practice | |
| Yes | 4 |
| No | 14 |
| Community population | |
| < 5000 | 9 |
| 5000–10 000 | 6 |
| 10 000–30 000 | 2 |
| > 75 000 | 1† |
| Local Health Integration Network | |
| Northwest | 9 |
| Northeast | 4 |
| Toronto Central | 1 |
| Southwest | 2 |
| Waterloo Wellington | 1 |
| North Simcoe Muskoka | 2 |
| Champlain | 1 |
| Central East | 1 |
| None listed | 1 |
| > 1 LHIN | 3 |
| Returned to rural community where they grew up to practise | |
| Yes | 2‡ |
| No | 16 |
| Practice format | |
| Locum | 8 |
| Part-time | 3 |
| Full-time | 10 |
| Combination locum and full-time or part-time | 4 |
| Areas of practice (no. of areas of practice ranged from 1 to 7) | |
| Primary care office | 18 |
| Hospitalist | 15 |
| Emergency department | 14 |
| Surgical assist | 8 |
| Palliative care | 5 |
| Addiction medicine | 5 |
| Long-term care | 1 |
| Obstetric care (clinic and delivery) | 3 |
| Teaching | 9 |
| Research | 1 |
| Hours per week | |
| Average | 47 |
| Range | 30–80§ |
| No. of days per month on call | |
| Average | 8 |
| Range | 0–20+ |
Note: NOSM = Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
↵* 2 participants completed a 3-month supplementary emergency medicine experience program.
↵† Individual practised in a larger centre for first year, but practised in a rural community within first 5 years.
↵‡ Not necessarily in first year of practice.
↵§ 1 worked only half of the year, and others worked a range.