Academic performance of third-year medical students learning in rural settings

Objective: Investigate the academic performance of medical students in rural and remote discipline rotations by rurality of placement. Design: A retrospective cohort study. Setting: Rural and remote clinical placement locations in Queensland, Australia. Participants: University of Queensland third-year medical students. Main outcome measures: In this study, student results for a range of assessments are the main outcome measures with rural area of student placement locations as categorised by the Australian Standard Geographical Classification - Remoteness Areas system the independent variable of interest. Results: There was a significant effect of Australian Standard Geographical Classification - Remoteness Areas of placement on the health project, clinical case presentation, clinical participation assessment and overall grade, after controlling for the potential confounding impact of sex, age, students who attended the rural clinical school, cohort year, rotation during the year and type of health service where students were placed. No significant effect of rural placement level was identified for the written examination, poster or journal of achievement assessments. Conclusion: Medical students' academic achievement is associated with many factors, but this study shows that being placed in remote areas is one factor that either does not impede or can positively influence the learning and academic performance of medical students.