title: Factors influencing the specialty choice of the physical medicine and rehabilitation graduating class of 1994 and the entering class of 1995.
abstract: To understand better how career choices are made by physiatrists, a 16-item, 7-page questionnaire was sent to all 1994 graduating physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) resident physicians in the United States. Of the 343 senior residents, 202 completed the questionnaire for a response rate of 59%. The questionnaire focused on the following areas: timing of the decision to enter PM&R; and how the medical school curriculum, certain groups of people, and certain specific factors influenced their choices. There were 130 factors modeled after the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) annual medical student questionnaire that the recipients were asked to grade on a numerical scale: 1 = unimportant to 5 = very important. Of the graduating residents, 60.1% (119/198) made the decision to enter PM&R in their 3rd or 4th yr of medical school, 13.1% (26/198) in the first 2 yr, and 11.1% (22/198) after starting another residency. The five factors ranked most important in the decision were (mean rank score): sufficient time/flexibility for family obligations (4.60); opportunity to make a difference in peoples lives (4.57); interest in helping people (4.55); types of patient problems encountered (4.50); and consistency with personality (4.49). We also obtained the AAMC's 1993 annual data on medical students choosing PM&R. Their top five factors were the same as those listed by the graduating residents, but in a slightly different rank order. Profiles have also been derived on those graduating PM&R residents who chose an academic career (n = 68) v nonacademic (n = 133) and fellowship (n = 34) v nonfellowship (n = 163).
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark 07103-2406, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: DeLisa
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Campagnolo
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kirshblum
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Findley
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010810:Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine / Q000193:education; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States