Preparing Pre-Health Students to Address Rural Health Disparities: Outcomes of a Brief Intervention

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the impact of a one-hour educational presentation on rural health disparities on knowledge and attitudes of pre-health professional students.

Sample: 104 undergraduate and graduate students from a mid-sized Midwestern university participated between March–April 2025. Students represented multiple health career pathways, with occupational therapy (n=36), nursing (n=19), and medicine (n=15) most common.

Method: A pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design was used. Students completed a pre-survey, attended a one-hour presentation on national and Iowa-specific rural health disparities, and then completed a post-survey. Surveys included demographic questions, Likert-scale measures of attitudes and understanding, and multiple-choice knowledge questions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-tests.

Findings: Knowledge of rural health disparities increased by 23.8% from pre- to post-test (p < .001). Statistically significant improvements were also observed in attitudes toward rural health (p < .05) and self-reported understanding of rural disparities (p < .001). Participants’ interest in working in rural health and belief that they could make a difference also increased significantly. The mean rating for presentation effectiveness was 4.75/5.

Conclusions: A brief, one-hour educational session significantly improved knowledge and attitudes regarding rural health disparities among pre-health students. This suggests that brief, low-resource interventions can raise awareness of rural health issues and may serve as an entry point for integrating rural content into undergraduate and graduate health curricula. Future research should examine longitudinal impacts and application to professional practice.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v26i1.804