Evaluation of pediatric training by the alumni of a residency program

An evaluation of a large pediatric residency program by its alumni was undertaken to determine whether the program is providing quality education and relevant training for pediatricians. A questionnaire was mailed to physicians who began their training at Children's Hospital Medical Center in July 1974 or later and finished prior to July 1990. Of the 372 questionnaires sent, 274 were returned (74% response rate). Current positions included primary care physicians (41%), academic pediatricians (33%), and other (26%). Fifty-seven percent pursued fellowship training. Overall, 94% of the responders believed that their pediatric training was adequate in preparing them for their current position. The variety of patients seen, the inpatient experience, resident camaraderie, and neonatology training were rated the highest quality, means 4.38 to 4.75 (1 = poor, 3 = average, 5 = excellent quality). Behavioral/developmental pediatrics, adolescent medicine, well-child care/continuity clinic, the outpatient experience, and pediatric surgery were rated the poorest quality, means 2.66 to 3.08, and judged to have too little quantity of training relative to the other aspects of training, means 1.93 to 2.42 (1 = too little, 3 = just enough, 5 = too much quantity). The quantity of neonatology training, the volume of patients, on-call experience, subspecialty inpatient services, such as bone marrow transplantation, and overall inpatient experience were considered too high relative to other components, means 3.51 to 4.08. There were no significant differences in responses by whether the alumni were in academic or primary care positions nor by year of training, and few differences by whether or not the training was considered adequate preparation for their current position.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)