Abstract
This article examines some recent literature about the low physician-population ratios in rural areas. In an attempt to discover those factors which seem to preclude successful health care delivery in rural areas, it discusses a definition of the city as the place where the maximum lines of communication converge. A new concept, the “invisible city,” is proposed, and the health care community in the United States is seen as an example. The library of the rural hospital, then, is defined as the location of the rural health professional's primary entrance into his own invisible city by means of professional communication through the biomedical literature.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Davis R. M. The national biomedical communications network as a developing structure. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1971 Jan;59(1):1–20. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lucas R. A., Himelfarb A. Some social aspects of medical care in small communities. Can J Public Health. 1971 Jan-Feb;62(1):6–16. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Marshall C. L., Hassanein K. M., Hassanein R. S., Marshall C. L. Principal components analysis of the distribution of physicians, dentists and osteopaths in a Midwestern state. Am J Public Health. 1971 Aug;61(8):1556–1564. doi: 10.2105/ajph.61.8.1556. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wilson V. E. Rural health care systems. JAMA. 1971 Jun 7;216(10):1623–1626. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]