Dataset Information

Impact of AOA status and perceived lifestyle on career choices of medical school graduates.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Based upon student ratings of such factors as predictable work hours and personal time, medical specialties have been identified as lifestyle friendly, intermediate, or unfriendly. Lifestyle friendly programs may be more desirable, more competitive, and for students elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society, more attainable.

Objective

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether AOA students increasingly entered lifestyle friendly residency programs and whether trends in program selection differed between AOA and non-AOA graduates.

Design

This retrospective cohort study examined PGY-2 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the 12 allopathic schools in the Associated Medical Schools of New York.

Participants

Data on 1987-2006 graduates from participating schools were evaluated.

Main measures

Residency program selection over the 20-year period served as the main outcome measure.

Key results

AOA graduates increasingly entered lifestyle-friendly residencies--from 12.9% in 1987 to 32.6% in 2006 (p?ConclusionsWhile lifestyle factors appear to influence residency program selection, AOA graduates differentially were more likely to either choose or attain certain competitive, lifestyle-friendly specialties. Health care reform should be targeted to improve lifestyle and decrease income disparities for specialties needed to meet health manpower needs.

SUBMITTER: Grayson MS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3235601 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Impact of AOA status and perceived lifestyle on career choices of medical school graduates.

Grayson Martha S MS Newton Dale A DA Patrick Patricia A PA Smith Lawrence L

Journal of general internal medicine 20110812 12

<h4>Background</h4>Based upon student ratings of such factors as predictable work hours and personal time, medical specialties have been identified as lifestyle friendly, intermediate, or unfriendly. Lifestyle friendly programs may be more desirable, more competitive, and for students elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society, more attainable.<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this study was to evaluate whether AOA students increasingly entered lifestyle friendly residency pro ...[more]

PMID: 21837375

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Project description:BackgroundCardiology is one of the most popular of the hospital medical specialties in the UK. It is also a highly competitive specialty in respect of the availability of higher specialty training posts. Our aims are to describe doctors' early intentions about seeking careers in cardiology, to report on when decisions about seeking a career in cardiology are made, to compare differences between men and women doctors in the choice of cardiology, and to compare early career choices with later specialty destinations.MethodsQuestionnaire surveys were sent to all UK medical graduates in selected qualification years from 1974-2009, at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years after graduation.ResultsOne year after graduation, the percentage of doctors specifying cardiology as their first choice of long-term career rose from the mid-1990s from 2.4% (1993 cohort) to 4.2% (2005 cohort) but then fell back to 2.7% (2009 cohort). Men were more likely to give cardiology as their first choice than women (eg 4.1% of men and 1.9% of women in the 2009 cohort). The percentage of doctors who gave cardiology as their first choice of career declined between years one and five after qualification: the fall was more marked for women. 34% of respondents who specified cardiology as their sole first choice of career one year post-graduation were later working in cardiology. 24% of doctors practising as cardiologists several years after qualification had given cardiology as their sole first choice in year one. The doctors' 'domestic circumstances' were a relatively unimportant influence on specialty choice for aspiring cardiologists, while 'enthusiasm/commitment', 'financial prospects', 'experiences of the job so far' and 'a particular teacher/department' were important.ConclusionsCardiology grew as a first preference one year after graduation to 2005 but is now falling. It consistently attracts a higher percentage of men than women doctors. The correspondence between early choice and later destination was not particularly strong for cardiology, and was less strong than that for several other specialties.

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Dataset Information

Impact of AOA status and perceived lifestyle on career choices of medical school graduates.

Background

Objective

Design

Participants

Main measures

Key results

Publications

Impact of AOA status and perceived lifestyle on career choices of medical school graduates.

Similar Datasets

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