Fact sheet on Georgia's medical school graduates, 2010 August

Georgia Board for Physician Workforce Fact Sheet on Georgia's Medical School Graduates
August 2010

This Fact Sheet highlights results from the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce's (GBPW's) Survey of 2010 Medical School Graduates. A total of 454 medical school graduates from Emory, Morehouse, Mercer, the Medical College of Georgia (MCG), and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) were surveyed. The response rate was 64% (290 out of 454), which was an increase from 38% in 2009 and 11% in 2008.

What Factors Influence Specialty Choice?

Consistent with the 2009 survey, medical students in 2010 reportedly made the decision about what specialty to pursue during their 3rd year of medical school. Graduates selecting their specialty in their 3rd year accounted for 54% of the respondents. Graduates were least likely to select their specialty in their first year of medical school.

In 2010, there was an overall increase in graduates entering primary care specialties from 2009. However, there was an 8% decline in graduates entering internal medicine from 25% to 17%.

When selecting a specialty, Georgia medical school graduates were most influenced by "Mentors/Role Models". Graduates reported "Lifestyle" as being the second most important factor when choosing a specialty, followed by "Options for Fellowship Training". The majority of respondents indicated "Medical Education Debt" had little to no influence on their selection of specialty. "Competitiveness of Specialty" and "Family Expectations" were also ranked as having a low degree of influence on specialty choice.

Most and Least Influential Factors in Selecting a Specialty

2010 Georgia Medical School Graduates

Factor

High Degree of Influence

Low Degree of Influence

Mentor/Role Model Influence

X

Lifestyle

X

Options for Fellowship Training

X

Medical Education Debt

X

Competitiveness of Specialty

X

Family Expectations

X

What Factors Influence Location of Residency Training?

When selecting a residency or graduate medical education (GME) program, Georgia medical school graduates were most influenced by "Location". Graduates reported the "Reputation of Residency Program" as being the second most important factor when choosing a residency program. "Family" and "Availability of Residency Positions in Desired Specialty" were also of strong or moderate influence to respondents as shown in the following graph.

To what degree did the following factors influence your choice of residency program?

300 250 200 150 100
50 0 Family

No Influence Minor Influence Moderate Influence Strong Influence

Location

Reputation of Residency Program

Availability of Residency Positions in
Desired Specialty

Graduates going out of state for residency training were asked to indicate their primary reason for leaving. As shown in the graph below, the majority (46.6%) of graduates preferred to train at a well known out-of-state program in their specialty area. The choice of "Other" was selected by 29.2% of respondents and included reasons such as family, job potential for significant other, and desire to live someplace different. Eleven percent wanted to stay, but did not match to a Georgia program. Ten percent chose to go out-of-state based on the quality of Georgia's residency programs. Just over 3% reported their specialty is not offered in Georgia.

If you are going out of state for residency training,

what is your primary reason for leaving?

3.2% 10.0%

Preferred a well known out of

state program in specialty area

11.0%

Other

46.6%

Wanted to stay, but did not match to a Georgia program

Quality of Georgia residency programs

29.2%

Specialty not offered in Georgia

Perception of Georgia's Residency Programs

Fifty-four percent of respondents indicated they had not ranked any Georgia graduate medical education programs in their top three choices during the national residency Match process (n=156).

Emory's GME programs were the most commonly ranked among all Georgia medical education programs at 67.7% followed by MCG at 21.1%, MCCG at 9.8%, and AMC at 8.3%.

When asked to rate their overall perception of Georgia's residency training programs on scale of 1 to 10 (where "1" is Very Negative and "10" is Very Positive), graduates responded with a mean of 6.97 (up from 6.18 in 2009). The table below shows the number of respondents for each point on the scale.

Overall Perception

Very

Negative

(1)

(2)

(3)

Neutral

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

Very Positive
(10)

Rating Average

Response Count

Overall Perception

2

0

6

13

46

37

61

67 34

20

6.97

286

answered question

286

Respondents were asked to rate their perception of the quality of Georgia's residency training programs on

a scale of 1 to 10 (where "1" is Low Quality and "10" is High Quality). Graduates responded with a mean of

7.01, which is an increase from 6.49 in 2009. The table below shows the number of respondents for each

point on the scale.

Perception of the Quality

Low

Quality

(1)

(2)

(3)

Neutral

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

High Quality
(10)

Rating Average

Response Count

Perception of the Quality

1

0

4

9

54

34

63

68

36

18

7.01

287

answered question

287

Where are Graduates Planning to Practice?
Fifty one percent of all respondents are planning to practice in Georgia after residency training. Currently, 18% have not identified where they will practice. When looking at graduates reporting plans to practice in Georgia or one of the surrounding states (Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee), the results showed 81% in Georgia, followed by Florida at 7%, Tennessee at 4%, North Carolina and South Carolina at 3% each, and Alabama at 2%.

Anticipated Practice Location of Graduates Nationally

18%

1% 1%

Anticipated Practice Location of Graduates - GA & Surrounding States
4% 3% 3% 2% 7%

29% Georgia Other Country

Other State Military

51% Unknown

81%

Georgia

Florida

Tennessee

North Carolina South Carolina Alabama

The 2010 graduates planning to practice in underserved areas indicated they were more likely to go into inner-city communities (39%) rather than rural communities (33%). This represents a shift from 2009, when the ratio of graduates planning to enter inner-city and rural areas was more evenly split.

Plans to Practice in Underserved Area

22%

42%

Community Within Underserved Area

28%

39%

36%

Yes

No

Not Certain

33%

Inner-City

Rural

Not Applicable

Georgia Board for Physician Workforce 1718 Peachtree St., N.W., Suite 683, Atlanta, Georgia 30309, (404) 206-5420 www.gbpw.georgia.gov Cherri Tucker, Executive Director. Colette Caldwell, Carla Graves, Kelly McNamara, and G.E. Alan Dever, M.D., Ph.D., contributors.