The impact of environmental factors on emergency medicine resident career choice

To evaluate the impact of environmental factors on emergency medicine (EM) resident career choice.

Program directors of all U.S. EM residencies were surveyed in November 1997. A 22-item questionnaire assessed resources allocated to research, fellowship availability, academic productivity of faculty and residents, and career choices of residency graduates.

The response rate was 83%. The program director (mean+/-SD) estimates of resident career choice were as follows: 27.8+/-19.1% pursued academic positions with emphasis on teaching, 5.4+/-9.8% pursued academic positions with emphasis on research, and 66.8+/-23.1%, pursued private practice positions. In addition, 5.70+/-6.13% of the residency graduates were estimated to seek fellowship training. Univariate analyses demonstrated that increasing departmental funding for research, having substantial resource availability (defined as having at least two of the following: dedicated laboratory space; support for a laboratory research technician/assistant, a clinical research nurse or study coordinator, a statistician, or an assistant with a PhD degree), a greater number of peer-reviewed publications by residents (r = 0.22; p = 0.08), and a greater number of peer-reviewed publications by faculty (r = 0.26; p = 0.04) positively correlated with the percentage of graduates who pursue academic research careers. Using multiple regression, however, increasing intramural funding and the presence of substantial resource availability were the only variables predictive of resident pursuit of an academic research career.

Modification of the EM training environment may influence the career choices of graduates. Specifically, greater commitment of departmental funds and support of resources for research may enhance the likelihood of a trainee's choosing an academic research career.