Rural-Urban Comparison of Allied Health Average Hourly Wages

摘要

The clinical doctorate is a growing phenomenon in the allied health professions. In some fields, the advanced practice doctorate is available for experienced professionals; in others the entrylevel doctorate is offered to or required of individuals who are entering the field. Advocates of the clinical doctorate claim the degree will improve quality and efficiency of care. Others argue that the added time and financial costs are unnecessary and will exacerbate current workforce shortages as students look for less costly career choices. The effects of the move to the clinical doctorate on the supply and quality of allied health care could be particularly acute in rural communities, which have long struggled with recruitment and retention of health care providers. There is no published research on how growth in the clinical doctorate has affected health care in rural areas. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative assessment of how the transition to the clinical doctorate in one profession, physical therapy, is affecting the supply and quality of rural physical therapy care.