A characterization of the imminent leadership transition in academic family medicine

Of the 106 identified chairmen of academic departments, divisions, or sections of family medicine in the United States in 1990, 97 (92%) responded to a survey designed to characterize the current chairmen of family medicine and estimate requirements for future chairmen. Even though 43% had occupied the chair for less than five years, over half, not limited to older chairmen, intended to leave within five years. Reasons for leaving varied, including being required to leave, career choice, personal reasons, and especially dissatisfaction with the job. Only half of current chairmen identified one or more qualified applicants for chairmanship within their own departments. The formal training and experience of these potential chairmen strongly resembled the training and experience of current chairmen, especially the fact that they had little training or experience in research. In the 1990s, the demand for academic chairmen of family medicine is likely to be large, the competition for capable candidates keen, and the challenges great for new chairmen, who will probably be young, residency-trained family physicians with relatively limited academic experience.