There is now a much greater diversity in the medical profession than there used to be. Patterns of rural practice need to be restructured to reflect diverse working styles and preferences if the rural medical workforce is to draw on the full spectrum of medical graduates.
Strategies
4.1.1 Medical schools, national and international medical
associations, and colleges of medicine need to support female rural doctors
to practise in ways which reflect their multiple roles of doctor, wife and mother,
and to develop strategies which empower women and men in rural practice to set
their own limits to practice. This may include, but is not limited to, flexible
working hours and discontinuous training.
4.1.2 Associations of rural doctors should develop and implement
ways in which both male and female rural doctors can support each other. Example,
support groups for women in rural practice.
4.1.3 Practice patterns preferred by women should be adequately
remunerated and acknowledged in fee structures.
4.1.4 There should be recognition of particular problems
of rural female doctors and their families, including the particular needs of
male spouse
4.1.5 Rural educational arrangements should reflect
the difficulty of the doctor leaving town for education while balancing his/her
family responsibilities.
4.1.6 Rural practice models should address issues
of personal safety by development of undergraduate curricula which increases
student awareness of the risks of violence and demonstrates strategies to manage
violent incidents.
Community education about the risks of violence to rural doctors
4.1.7 Locum schemes should promote, where possible, an appropriate
gender mix
4.1.8 Specific measure to retain women in rural practice
4.1.9 Establishment of a WONCA working group to advise
the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice on