- Title
- Choosing to practice in rural dietetics: what factors influence that decision?
- Creator
- Heaney, Susan E.; Tolhurst, Helen; Baines, Surinder K.
- Relation
- Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 12, Issue 5, p. 192-196
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1854.2004.00603.x
- Publisher
- Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2004
- Description
- Objective: The present study aimed to identify those factors that influence the decision of a dietitian to consider working in a rural area. Design: A qualitative design using focus groups was chosen for this study to allow for in-depth data to be obtained. Setting: University of Newcastle, Callaghan Campus. Subjects: Twenty-three students/new graduates from the Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) degree at the University of Newcastle. Main Outcome Measures: Not applicable, this project was an exploratory study. Results: A number of factors that influence the decision of dietetic students and newly graduated dietitians to consider working in a rural area were identified. These fell into the following main thematic areas: job prospects; rural lifestyle; comfort zones; support networks; promotion opportunities/professional development; type of work/work role; rural needs; and time frame. Conclusions: The present study found that choosing a location to work (whether it be a rural one or not) is a complex process and involves a number of interacting factors. Also those factors that may influence one dietitian to choose a career in a rural area may also be the factors that influence another dietitian not to choose a career in a rural area.
- Subject
- career choices; dietetic students; dietetic workforce; rural health workforce
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/26575
- Identifier
- uon:938
- Identifier
- ISSN:1038-5282
- Language
- eng
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