Factors influencing medical radiation science graduates’ early career principal place of practice: a retrospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION: While studies have investigated influences on graduate practice locations of other health professionals, especially medicine, none have investigated practice locations of medical radiation science (MRS) graduates. This study aimed to explore factors influencing the registered principal place of practice (PPP) of diagnostic radiography, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine graduates from the University of Newcastle (UON), Australia, in their second post-graduate year. METHODS: Data were extracted from the UON enrolment and clinical placement databases and linked to Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (Ahpra) registration data for PPP location in 2019 for 187 graduates who completed their studies in 2017. Explanatory variables included age at enrolment, gender, MRS discipline, location of origin, socio-economic index for location of origin, and locations and duration of undergraduate professional placements. Descriptive statistics, tests of association and logistic regression compared rural and non-rural origin, and professional placement locations with Ahpra PPP. RESULTS: Factors related to non-metropolitan PPP were location of origin (P = 0.002), number (P = 0.002) and duration (P = 0.007) of rural placements, and MRS discipline (P = 0.033). Controlling for other variables, location of origin and MRS discipline remained significant. Graduates of rural origin had up to 3.54 (95%CI = 1.51-8.28) times the odds of a rural PPP. Diagnostic radiography graduates had up to 5.46 (95%CI = 1.55-19.20) times the odds of nuclear medicine of a rural PPP. CONCLUSION: To help reduce the gap between rural and metropolitan medical radiation service availability, there is a need for targeted recruitment of rural origin students. Further investigation of the effect of rural undergraduate MRS placements is justified.