This study shows that the majority of family practice residents initially become aware of individual community needs for family physicians in either medical school or early in residency training, but the final decision in regard to the selection of a specific community for private practice is not generally made until late in the third year of residency training. When the final decision as to practice location is established, the family practice resident and his family have regarded at least six different factors as significant. Most family practice residents will enter private practice as members of a group practice, rather than as solo practitioners. There is a direct relationship between the population of the family practice resident's home community and the size of the communities being considered for private practice. The most influential recruiting technique is personal contact by the physicians and citizens of the community, whereas the least effective method of recruiting is through printed material distributed through mail service.