Career Paths of Young Fellowship-Trained Microsurgeons

Microsurgery is a highly specialized field requiring years of dedicated training and proper support to sustain a practice. We sought to describe the career paths of young microsurgeons and investigate factors associated with switching jobs.Public data on surgeons who completed a microsurgery fellowship between 2016 and 2020 were collected. Analysis of job switching was determined using the Kaplan-Meier method.One hundred and sixty-seven graduates were analyzed. Most initially practiced microsurgery (92.2%) and 61.7% went into academics. Fifty-two (31.4%) have switched jobs and Kaplan-Meier estimates that 36.0% will switch by 5 years into practice. Over half (58%) changed practice setting type, 19% left academics, and 12% stopped performing microsurgery.Gender, residency training type, taking a job where they trained, and the presence of a microsurgery fellowship had no effect on job switching (p = 0.74, 0.95, 0.71, 0.26). Surgeons in academics were significantly more likely to change jobs (p = 0.04).Gender, residency training type, or taking a job where they trained had no effect on leaving academics (p = 0.89, 0.42, 0.37). Taking a first job where a microsurgery fellowship was present was significantly associated with staying in academics (p = 0.04)Most microsurgery fellows take jobs performing microsurgery. Thirty-six percent will switch jobs in 5 years, more than half will change practice setting type, and about 20% will leave academics. A minority will stop performing microsurgery. Surgeons in academics are more likely to switch jobs. Taking a job where there is a microsurgery fellowship is significantly associated with staying in academics during the switch.