Perceptions And Attitudes Of Medical Interns Towards Rural Service After Internship: A Cross-Sectional Study From A Private Medical College In Coastal Karnataka

Background Rural part of the India is suffering from severe scarcity of certified allopathic physicians. To increase the availability of doctors in rural areas, government has made one year of rural service compulsory after MBBS and Post-graduation. This study aims to understand the perception and attitude of MBBS interns regarding the rural services. The present study was a Cross-sectional study conducted among MBBS interns of KS Hegde medical Academy, Mangalore. Methods A total of 169 students participated in the study. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used after obtaining informed consent of study participants to collect information about participant's socio-demographic characteristics and their views about a rural health career. Data was analysed using SPSS. Results One third of students (31.4%) disagreed with the fact that rural service should be made compulsory after MBBS. Some reasons cited for disagreement were professional growth is limited (55.6%), difficult to pursue PG later (49.2%), isolation from family (69.8%) and recreation facility is limited (70.5%). We did not find any association between mean attitude scores of males and females, and also between students belonging to rural and urban areas. Among those participants willing to work in rural area, it was found that health service for the poor and benefit of reservation in PG exams was the most common reasons why interns would consider working in rural areas. Conclusion This study calls for policy makers to give attention to basic amenities for doctors to work in rural areas, so that rural population will be benefited at large by services of trained doctors.