There are two student rural health clubs in Western Australia; SPINRPHEX (Student Practitioners INterested in Rural Practice and Health Education eXcetera) and WAALHIIBE (Western Australian Allied Health Interested In Bush Experience). These two clubs aim to promote rural health issues and provide undergraduate health students with positive rural experiences to aid the recruitment of these students as future rural health professionals. These student clubs have worked together with rural areas to establish initiatives that not only address areas of health need, but also importantly provide the opportunity for students to experience rural health first hand. General promotion of rural life has historically experienced limited success in recruiting health professionals. The provision of positive rural experiences at the undergraduate level has the potential to increase the effectiveness of recruitment programs at the graduate level. Initiatives developed by the rural clubs have had a demonstrable effect on the future career directions of the student participants. The success of these initiatives can be attributed to the mutual benefit for both the students and community involved. Benefits for rural health outcomes are two fold; there is the short-term impact of the project on the target community and the long-term impact of health students' career choices being influenced. Positive experiences in conjunction with promotion are more powerful than promotion alone.