What Are PM&R Residents Doing After Graduation?

Earlier this spring AAPM&R sent online surveys to all of its PGY4 resident affiliate members to inquire about their post-residency plans. Of those PGY4s, 104 responded, and the results of the survey are being made public for the first time in this edition of The PM&R Resident newsletter. It appears that resident career choices remain as diverse as our specialty in that there are many graduates who will be practicing in a variety of different settings all across the country.

Approximately 62% of graduates applied for fellowship training after residency and roughly 56% of PGY4s actually accepted a fellowship position. The number of residents who expressed interest in applying for fellowship training is down 7% from last year, according to results of a similar survey conducted by AAPM&R in July 2007.

Most residents are still choosing specialization in musculoskeletal, spine, and pain medicine. However, the trends within these areas compared to last year's numbers have changed dramatically:

• Last year 52% of graduates listed pain medicine as their primary specialty. This year only 19% named pain as their primary interest.

• Interestingly, more residents named musculoskeletal medicine as their primary interest (23%) this year, whereas last year only 4% of all graduating residents listed it as their primary focus.

• Spine medicine has remained relatively stable over the last year with 15% entering the specialty in 2007, and 17% stating that this will be their primary area of practice in 2008.

Other fellowship opportunities that residents will be entering include pediatric rehabilitation (6%), neurorehabilitation (6%), general rehabilitation (6%), SCI medicine (3%), and sports medicine (3%). Many residents will also be pursuing additional training in cancer rehabilitation, brain injury, electrodiagnostics, neuromuscular medicine, stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal therapeutics, and so on.

For residents who did not choose to pursue additional training after graduation, a wide variety of practice settings were listed:

• 17% will be employed physicians at a hospital/rehabilitation institution

• 7% will remain associated within academic institutions

• 5% will be employed through the VA/Military

• 11% have chosen to enter private practice with a multi-specialty group

• 7% will begin their careers in a PM&R group

• 2% have decided to brave the waters and hang up their shingles as solo practitioners

Finally, 61% of residents have decided to move to a new area, while 38% of graduates will be staying in the areas where they completed their training. Graduates are moving to places all across the country, but there appears to be a higher percentage of residents locating to the Northeast and Midwest as compared to other areas of the country.

The data outlined in this article is also available in the May issue of The Physiatrist. Detailed results of the survey can be found here.

Michael Cicchetti, MD
PGY3 – The University of Virginia Health System
RPC President
 

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