Help understanding rural medicine

[arjusmc]

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Recently I was filling out a secondary application and was asked if I lived in a rural area. They defined rural as a city with a population of less than 30,000 and more than 50 miles from a city with a population of 100,000. Is this considered the standard amongst medical schools with a mission of serving rural populations?

 

[Cornfed101]

According to HRSA:
The first definition developed by the Census Bureau identifies two types of urban areas:

• Urbanized Areas (UAs) of 50,000 or more people;
• Urban Clusters (UCs) of at least 2,500 and less than 50,000 people.

The Census does not actually define “rural.” “Rural” encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area. Whatever is not urban is considered rural.

The HRSA is what AMCAS uses to define if you are from a rural area or currently live in one. The definition you provided sounds school specific, but I think it is a reasonable definition.

 

[arjusmc]

Thanks for the info. I'm reading over it now. I would be classified as an urban cluster, but man, that's quite the range 2,500-50,000. I guess my question doesn't seem to have a solid answer from what I can tell. With so many schools that aim to produce physicians that are willing to serve rural areas as part of their mission, I would have thought there would be a generally accepted definition of "rural".

I currently live in a city with 19,000 people and plan to practice in a similar environment, or maybe a smaller population. Would I be mistaken if I were to consider this rural?

 

[Cornfed101]

Rural is for a broader area. It’s not just the population of the town you are in, but it’s the surrounding area. I am from a town of 10k and there are no cities above 50k in 350 miles. That is rural (although an extreme example). The reason this is important is that if my family has to see a sub specialist we have to travel 7 hours by car to see one.

19000 would be rural if the surrounding cities are also low in population.

 

[Cornfed101]

Also, on HRSA there is a tool that you can type in your address and zip code and it tells you if your location is rural

 

[arjusmc]

I live 50 miles from a city with a pop of 52,000 and a 3-hour drive from a city of 180,000. The area does have support for things like ortho and heart caths, however, things such as transplants, open heart, etc have to be done elsewhere. I'd assume i'm in either a larger rural area or somewhere in between. The tool was helpful, said yes to Primary care, mental health, and dental HSPA, but no the MUA/P.

 

[PA_dud3]

What if what you put on a secondary disagrees with what the HRSA says? It says my area is underserved but for some reason says it is non-rural (which is absurd, it is most definitely rural).

 

[Cornfed101]

What if what you put on a secondary disagrees with what the HRSA says? It says my area is underserved but for some reason says it is non-rural (which is absurd, it is most definitely rural).

That I don’t know. I doubt they would call you out on it, but what do I know

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

What if what you put on a secondary disagrees with what the HRSA says? It says my area is underserved but for some reason says it is non-rural (which is absurd, it is most definitely rural).

Just list it as rural. I doubt the expect applicants to know exactly what the HRSA says. Stuff like that is also pretty subjective so if you believe you grew up in a rural area then list it as rural because that was your experience.