Table 1

Key Interview Questions

Topic	Questions
Work hours and patterns	Do you work full time or part time? About how many hours a week do you work? Does this include time on inpatient floors/ED coverage? Do you take call? Do you practice OB? Would you like your schedule to be different? What motivates you to work as hard as you do?
Career planning and development	Did you grow up in a rural setting? Did your medical school/residency have a rural focus? Did you do a fellowship? When you met your partner, did you know you were interested in rural practice? Did your career plans affect the spouse that you chose? What advice would you give a female resident or student considering rural practice?
Spouse relationships and roles	Are you married or do you have a partner? Do you have any children? How many? How old are they? Does your partner work? What kind of work does he/she do? [If partner/spouse works part time or doesn’t work outside the home]: • How did you come to that decision? • What has that meant to you as a couple? • Have you made financial sacrifices to make this work?
Work-life balance	What do you see as the challenges for women in rural practice? How are you managing with your work-life balance? How do you bring your work life and personal life work in balance? How do you prioritize your responsibilities? What aspect of your work is most challenging? How has your career affected your family? What part does your partner play in your work-life balance? What solutions have you found?