Researchers analyzed census and survey record data between 1960 and 2011. After 1990, spouses with master’s degrees or higher were categorized as “highly educated.”
Here are six observations:
1. More than 50 percent of physicians had spouses with master’s degrees or higher, in 2010.
2. Physicians with highly educated spouses were 40 percent less likely to work in rural underserved areas.
3. The educated spouses of physicians often have independent careers, which aren’t compatible with rural areas.
4. Between 2005 and 2011, 5.3 percent of physicians worked in rural Health Professional Shortages Areas.
5. Four percent of physicians with highly educated spouses worked in rural areas, compared to 7 percent of married physicians without highly educated spouses.
6. The study’s authors concluded spouse education status is a factor, however, it doesn’t significantly affect the lack of physicians in rural America.
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