THE IMPACT OF HEALTH-CARE REFORM ON GASTROENTEROLOGY FELLOWS - ARE TRAINING-PROGRAMS PREPARING THEM FOR THE FUTURE

Objective: Health care reform is dramatically changing the practice an d delivery of medical care. The goal of this investigation was to exam ine gastroenterology trainees' outlook on the impact of health care re form on training programs. Methods: A 24-question survey was mailed in February 1996 to 780 GI fellows obtained from the comprehensive Ameri can College of Gastroenterology (ACG) database. Results: A total of 36 2 fellows responded (46%): 85% were male, 57% Caucasian, 75% married, and 86% were university-based. Ninety-six percent of fellows believed that, health care reform is adversely affecting the quality of health care and 94.1% felt that it was adversely affecting fellowship trainin g. Eighty-eight percent expressed concern over the impact of health ca re reform on practice opportunities. Only 9% of fellows reported that their training program had established a specific educational program addressing health care reform, whereas 83% of fellows felt that their program should do so. Conclusion: Gastroenterology fellows are concern ed about the impact of health care reform on the quality of care and t he quality of their fellowship training, Trainees believe that program s are not providing sufficient education to help them respond to the c hanges in health care. (C) 1998 by Am, Coll, of Gastroenterology.