Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39881255›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2025

Determinants of rural practice among a cohort of dental professionals in Australia.

Santosh Kumar Tadakamadla, Sudheer Babu Balla, Jyothi Tadakamadla, Libby Semmens, Sarah Down, Carol McKinstry, Jane Mills

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Santosh Kumar TadakamadlaDentistry and Oral Health, Department of Rural Clinical Science & Violet Vines Marshman Centre for Rural Health Research, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia. s.tadakamadla@latrobe.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2775-2897
Sudheer Babu BallaDentistry and Oral Health, Department of Rural Clinical Science & Violet Vines Marshman Centre for Rural Health Research, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0977-3889
Jyothi TadakamadlaDentistry and Oral Health, Department of Rural Clinical Science & Violet Vines Marshman Centre for Rural Health Research, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2518-6476
Libby SemmensLa Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-6749-1101
Sarah DownDentistry and Oral Health, Department of Rural Clinical Sciences, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2410-5451
Carol McKinstryLa Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6383-6313
Jane MillsLa Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, 3550, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7770-0852

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMost research on tracking practice locations of health students has focused on medical students, particularly the factors influencing their choice to work in rural and remote areas. However, there is limited research on how rural origin and training in regional or rural settings affect the employment destinations of dental and oral health graduates. This paper explores the practice locations of dentistry and oral health therapy (OHT) graduates from rural backgrounds compared to those from metropolitan areas in Australia. MATERIALS AND

methodsThe target population was dental and OHT graduates from La Trobe University's Rural Health School (Australia) who completed their studies between 2009 and 2023. The graduates' primary place of practice was sourced from the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) data. The 2019 Modified Monash Model (MMM) was used to categorise the students' original place of residence by rurality and practice locations. Multivariable analyses were conducted to explore the association between home and practice locations while controlling for the effect of socio-demographic characteristics collected from students at enrolment.

resultsData were available for 819 graduates matched to the AHPRA register. Of these, 541 (66.1%) were dentists, and 278 (33.9%) were OHTs. The majority were female (56.7% dentists and 81.7% OHTs), 11.3% (dentists) and 21.6% (OHTs) of the graduates originated from rural and remote areas, 16.6% (dentists) and 18% (OHTs) from regional areas, and 72.1% (dentists) and 60.4% (OHTs) from metropolitan areas. Multinomial logistic regression analyses for dentists and OHTs identified that , having a regional background, or having a rural or remote background were the most significant predictors for regional, rural/remote practice over metropolitan areas.

conclusionRegional background is the strongest predictor for graduate dentists and OHTs practicing in Australia's regional or rural and remote locations. Similarly, students from rural and remote locations were highly likely to practice in rural/ remote locations. Increasing the recruitment of students with rural backgrounds may positively impact graduates' decisions to practice in rural areas.

Indexed as

Career ChoiceDentistsProfessional Practice LocationRural Health ServicesAdultAustraliaFemaleHumansMaleRural PopulationYoung AdultAustraliaDental and oral health studentsPracticeRural originUniversityWorkforce

Identifiers

PMID39881255
PMCPMC11776122

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.