Med-Peds Residents' Career Plans and the Impact of Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship: A Nationwide Survey. Hosp Top 2023;101(4):336-343
Date
04/14/2022Pubmed ID
35414350DOI
10.1080/00185868.2022.2063775Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85166481004 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 4 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: The establishment of pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) as a fellowship-trained subspecialty represents a major change in the practice landscape, particularly for combined internal medicine-pediatrics (med-peds) residents. The most recent literature on med-peds residents' career choices predates PHM fellowship and its impact has not been well studied. We aimed characterize med-peds residents' career plans and the factors influencing their choices.
METHODS: We distributed an electronic survey to the 1,505 resident members of the National Med-Peds Resident Association. In addition to sociodemographic data, participants reported their career plans, how well their residency prepared them for various aspects of practice, and their perceptions of PHM fellowship and its effect on their career choices.
RESULTS: Among the 228 participants, the most planned careers were combined hospital medicine (36.8%, 84/228), combined subspecialty practice (32.5%, 74/228), and primary care (31.1%, 71/228). Residents felt well prepared for patient care and significantly more prepared for inpatient practice than for primary care. Participants rated the potential disadvantages of PHM fellowship as major deterrents and did not view the possible advantages as strong incentives. Among those who had considered a hospital medicine careers, 91.2% (186/203) were less likely to pursue PHM after its certification as a subspecialty.
CONCLUSION: Med-peds residents have a wide range of career interests but fellowship has made them less likely to pursue PHM careers. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing the needs of med-peds trained providers as PHM certification pathways and fellowship curricula develop to avoid adverse effects on the workforce.
Author List
McCarthy JJ, Swartz S, Liljestrom T, Menigo J, Cotter L, Toth HAuthors
Leah Cotter DO Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinTracey H. Liljestrom MD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
James J. Mccarthy MD Director, Associate Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Sheila Swartz MD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Heather Toth MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Career ChoiceChild
Fellowships and Scholarships
Hospital Medicine
Hospitals, Pediatric
Humans
Internal Medicine
Surveys and Questionnaires
