McMillan, WendyBarrie, Robert2014-05-272014-05-272012McMillan, W. & Barrie, R.B. (2012). Recruiting and retaining rural students: evidence from a Faculty of Dentistry in South Africa. Rural and Remote Health, 12(1855): 1-101445-6354http://hdl.handle.net/10566/1087There is a shortage internationally of adequately trained health professionals to service rural areas. Health professionals are more likely to practice in communities that are like the one in which they grew up. The WHO therefore suggests targeted university admission policies to facilitate the enrolment of students from rural areas. In South Africa, rural students have special needs with regard to university access and throughput because they come from the most economically disadvantaged communities and often are the first in their families to attend university. This descriptive study, the first in South Africa with a cohort of dentistry students, draws on data from undergraduates at a single faculty of dentistry in South Africa. It investigates the factors affecting rural students’ access to university, their academic success, as well as their employment intentions.en© 2012 McMillan & Barrie; licensee Deakin University. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.AccessEquityOral health careRetentionRural studentsUndergraduate educationArticle