ABSTRACT
This study is follow-up analysis of increments in specialty board certification rates occurring between 1971 and 1976 for 2,046 physicians who graduated in 1960, 1964, and 1968. Data obtained at 8-, 12-, and 16-year intervals following graduation from medical school indicate that it is not until 12 years' following receipt of the MD degree that most physicians will have entered the certification process or be certified. An additional increment is found 16 years following graduation. At eight and 12 years following graduation, the more recent graduates showed a much higher rate of board certification than earlier graduates at a comparable interval following graduation. Of the total study population, 81% are either board certified or in the certification process. When two essentially office-based specialties are excluded, 92% of the study population have formally entered the certification process.
Subject(s)
Certification , Education, Medical, Graduate , Medicine , Specialization , Specialty Boards , Longitudinal Studies , Time Factors , United StatesABSTRACT
To demonstrate the extent to which physicians change their specialty, randomized samples of the graduating classes of 1960, 1964, and 1968 were studied with respect to their self-designated specialties in 1971 and 1976. Of the 2,046 physicians in the three samples, 333 (16%) changed their specialty between 1971 and 1976. It was 8% for the 1960 cohort, 11% for 1964, and 29% for 1968. Of all the changes, 78% were from one specialty practice to another or back to a formal residency in a different specialty; 22% changed from one specialty residency to either practice or another residency in a different specialty. Between 1971 and 1976, a total of 127 (16%) of 783 primary care physicians changed their specialty. The magnitude of this change must be considered in planning for distribution of physicians by specialty.
Subject(s)
Career Mobility , Health Workforce , Primary Health Care , Specialization , Health Planning , Humans , Internship and Residency , Longitudinal Studies , United StatesABSTRACT
A total of 434 third- and fourth- year medical students from 80 U.S. medical schools participate between 1968 and 1974 in Yugoslav or Israeli international fellowship programs sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the U.S. Public Health Service. Subsequently, the scores of these fellowship student on Part II of the examinations of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) were compared with the scores of rejected applicants and with the national average to determine the cognitive impact of the fellowship experience on the participants. The results show that the international fellows scored significantly higher than the rejected applicants and the national average in only the preventive medicine/public health portion of the examination. The conclusion is drawn that the fellowship programs enhanced the participants' knowledge of preventive medicine and public health.
