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The relationship between career satisfaction and fellowship training in academic surgeons
1Department of Surgery, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing.
Background:
Academic surgeons make various important decisions about their careers; however, little is known about the relationships between fellowship training, career development issues, and academic responsibilities.
Methods:
Surgeon members of the Association for Surgical Education were surveyed about career development issues. Three hundred ninety-two (75.2%) surgeons responded.
Results:
An exploratory factor analysis of the career development issues revealed four career development factors. Statistically significant differences were found between types of fellowship training and the career development factors. Nonfellowship-trained and clinical-fellowship-trained surgeons spend their time similarly to physicians in other specialties. Research-fellowship-trained surgeons spent significantly more time doing research, had fewer concerns about professional confidence, and expressed greater satisfaction with their careers.
Conclusion:
There is a relationship between career development issues, fellowship training, and type of fellowship training. Attention to these issues may be important in recruiting and retaining academic surgeons.