A cross-sectional study on medical intern’s attitude and related factors towards working in rural areas and their future career preferences

Background: Shortage of health staff including doctors has been a disadvantage in the rural health system of India.Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) under National Medical Council, has recently implemented family adoption (FAP) program into undergraduate medical curriculum to provide the students with early community exposure, to orient them to the rural set up of our country. This study aims to understand the attitude of MBBS interns regarding working in rural areas and their career preferences. Methods: An online cross-sectional study was done among 180 medical interns in a tertiary care center located in a rural area using a semi-structured questionnaire after obtaining informed consent. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Results: Of the 180 interns surveyed, majority were in the age group 24-26 years, there were 121 females and majority resided in urban areas. Even though only 23.3% preferred to work in rural areas, majority of them (53.3 %) had a positive attitude towards working in rural areas. Female interns and those residing in rural areas had more positive attitude. Statistically significant association was found only between those interns residing in rural areas. It was found that those interns who preferred to work in rural areas had a more positive attitude towards rural work place. Conclusion: The attitude of medical interns towards working in rural areas was satisfactory. By modifying infrastructure of hospitals and work place environment their attitude would change.