Skip to main content
. 2020 Aug 12;18:90. doi: 10.1186/s12961-020-00608-7

Table 1.

Characteristics of rural health researchers (n = 17)

Factor n (%)
Sex
 Female 13 (76)
 Male 4 (24)
Age group
 30–39 8 (47)
 40–49 7 (41)
 50–55 2 (12)
Rurality of research location (MMM)a
 2 5 (29)
 3–5 9 (53)
 6–7 3 (18)
Distance from main campus
 <200 km 5 (29)
 200–399 6 (35)
 400+ 6 (35)
Primary income earner
 Yes 10 (59)
Trajectory to this position
 PhD qualified then moved to rural area with partner’s work and found this job 2 (12)
 PhD qualified then moved to rural area to take up this job 8 (47)
 Already living in rural area, got PhD qualified and found this job 7 (41)
Childhood origin in rural location of current work
 Yes 3 (18)
 No 14 (82)
PhD was in rural health
 Yes 5 (29)
Employed in a government contracted position
 Yesb 14 (82)
 No 3 (18)

aModified Monash Model (MMM) is the Australian government’s geographical scale that denotes areas that are metropolitan, rural, remote or very remote, based on population size and remoteness. MMM2–7 defined rural areas (https://www.health.gov.au/health-workforce/health-workforce-classifications/modified-monash-model)

b82% of the rural health researchers were employed on government contracts under the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Fund which at the time of this research had 15 months remaining, with the potential for renewal pending a government review which commenced in 2019