University of Puerto Rico Emergency Medicine Program: impact throughout the country

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Determine distribution, job description, and board certification status of the University of Puerto Rico Emergency Medicine Program (UPREMP) graduates. METHODS: A telephone survey was performed of all UPREMP graduates from 1995 to 2007, asking for the following information practitioner or non practitioner, working place, job description (e.g. Fellow, Staff or Emergency Room Directors), and board certification status. In cases in which the person could not be reached by phone, the last information available at the UPREMRP department was used to fill the survey. The board certification was verified using The American Board of Medical Specialties web site. Worksheets were used to organize data and then analyzed statistically with Excel 2003. RESULTS: Of the 102 graduates, 59% are males and 41% are women, 50% are board certified, 30% are not and 20% are pending certification. Of the female graduates, 77% are board certified, while only 60% of male graduates are board certified. Sixty percent (60%) of the graduates stayed in Puerto Rico and 40% moved to the United States. The distribution of graduates among PR senatorial districts (counties) was as follows San Juan 22%, Bayamón 17%, Arecibo 0%, Mayagüez 5%, Ponce, 23%, Guayama 6%, Humacao 12% and Carolina 20%. The job description among graduates was 54% full time Emergency Department (ED) Staff, 3% part time ED staff, 23% academic faculty, 10% directors, 5% fellows and 5% other. CONCLUSION: From our study, we can conclude that although the vast majority of UPREMP graduates stay in PR after graduation, most of them practice in four of the eight PR senatorial districts. Further studies are needed to determine the reasons why graduates have moved to the mainland US and for working mostly in four PR senatorial districts.