Briefing
BMJ 1996; 313 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.313.7065.3a (Published 02 November 1996) Cite this as: BMJ 1996;313:S3a-7065Medical educators in the USA regularly agonise over the low numbers of medical graduates willing to practise in rural and under served areas. Although many schools now include experience in such areas as part of their curricula, a recent review in Academic Medicine (1996;71 :963-8) argues that selection committees may have more influence than course work. Most studies have found that short attachments in these areas make no difference to career choice, though one school which randomised its entire third year program between primary care and hospital settings did show an effect-21% of graduates from the primary care program chose it as an eventual career compared with 11% of those from the hospital setting.