Who will manage American patients with diabetes? Residents' career preferences and perceptions of diabetes care.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the factors that encourage or discourage internal medicine and pediatric residents regarding specializing in endocrinology with a focus on diabetes.


METHODS
We conducted an electronic survey of internal medicine and pediatric residents using a $10 participation incentive. A total of 653 residents responded to the survey (estimated response rate of 9.2%)-626 from residency programs that were contacted for our survey and 27 from referrals.


RESULTS
Among internal medicine and pediatric residents surveyed, 39 respondents (6.0%) planned to specialize in endocrinology, and 27 of these (4.1% of total respondents) planned to focus on diabetes. "Intellectual satisfaction," "emotional satisfaction," and "work-life balance" were identified by respondents as the most important factors in their choice of a specialty, with ratings of 5.5, 5.4, and 5.3 on a 6-point Likert scale. Among these factors identified as most important to a medical career, endocrinology with a focus on diabetes scored poorly with regard to intellectual and emotional satisfaction but received high ranking with regard to lifestyle. With regard to other factors, endocrinology was rated negatively on "compensation," "number of procedures," and "patient adherence to prescribed treatment." Exposure to diabetes during training had no major influence on the decision to enter endocrinology.


CONCLUSIONS
Endocrinology with a focus on diabetes care is not an attractive specialty for most internal medicine and pediatric residents. Therefore, new strategies to attract residents to the field of diabetes care are needed.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. yarchoan@mail.med.upenn.edu
Mark
M
Yarchoan
Michael L
ML
Dougan
Melissa Y
MY
Tjota
Brendan H A
BH
Milliner
Brittany L
BL
Adler
Kaku A
KA
Armah
Ted A
TA
Gooley
Kelly L
KL
Close
John
J
Close
Irl B
IB
Hirsch
D002321:Career Choice; D003625:Data Collection; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education