People throughout their lives hear about "city people" and "country people". Whether city people were snobbish or country people were stupid, there were prejudices against both. However, many people don't know the definition of urban and rural, nor do they know how healthcare distinguishes between the two. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of urban is “of, relating to, characteristic of, constituting a city. (Merriam-Webster). Rural is defined as “of or relating to the country”. (Merriam-Webster). There are 312,486,525 people living in America as of October 24, 2011, 4:20 pm. (Unknown). About 65 million Americans live where there are not enough primary care providers. (Herzer and Seshamani). Of these, nearly 50 million live in rural areas. (Herzer and Seshamani). But what is shocking is that, although all these people live in rural areas, only 9% of US doctors practice in those areas. (Quality). This is due to the fact that doctors in urban areas earn more and have greater opportunities for career advancement. Just as their definitions are completely opposite, so are the differences in healthcare. In urban areas and cities there are hospitals in almost every city. Hospitals in these areas are known for having state-of-the-art equipment and top-notch medications. They are also the first to get the latest technological advances. This greatly aids in the ability to treat huge numbers of people as quickly and efficiently as they do. Urban hospitals also have profits from many research programs, which help increase their popularity and efficiency. Rural hospitals on the other side are not so lucky. In many rural areas there is... half the paper... Non-rural areas." American Journal of Public Health May 29, 2004: 1682-1686. Herzer, Kurt, and Meena Seshamani. A Success Story in American Health Care. n.d. 09 16 2011. Merriam-Webster: An Encylopedia Brittannica Company 2011. 10 24 2011. Ormond, Barbara A. and Stephen, Lhila, Aparna Zuckerman. “Rural/Urban Differences in Health Care Are Not Uniform Across America ". for health research and. "Health disparities in rural areas". Health disparities. 2005.Reschovsky, Staiti A J. "Access and quality of medical care in urban and rural areas." Academy Health Meeting (2005): abstract 3021.Unknown. US Census Bureau. 24 October 2011. 2011 October 2011 .