Recruitment of house staff into anesthesiology: Factors responsible for house staff selecting anesthesiology as a career and individual training program

Study Objective: To identify factors responsible in the selection of anesth esiology as a career by Mayo Clinic house staff (i.e., residents and clinic al fellows); to evaluate their level of satisfaction with their choice of c areer and training program, and their perceptions of the future for anesthe siology trainers. Design: Cross-sectional analysis using a questionnaire survey of 67 house s taff enrolled in the anesthesiology training program during the 1995-1996 a cademic year. Setting: Mayo Clinic, Rochester. MN. Measurements and Main Results: Forty-eight (72%) of those surveyed responde d to the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square and Mann-Wh itney rank sum tests. A p-value less than or equal to 0.05 was considered s tatistically significant. The most frequently cited reasons for selecting a nesthesiology as a career included the following: it is a "hands-on" specia lty, it involves clinical application of physiology and pharmacology, and i t provides immediate gratification in one's work. The most frequently cited reasons for selecting our training program were the diversity of training experience, prestige associated with Mayo Clinic, and employment opportunit ies following training. Forty-four (92%) felt down-sizing of anesthesiology training programs was a national trend, 26 (54%) anticipated difficulty ob taining a job following training, and 16 (33%) felt they had future job sec urity. Overall, 47 (98%) were happy with their career choice, and 40 (83%) would choose anesthesiology as a career if they were now graduating from me dical school. All 1996 graduates found suitable employment without difficul ty. Conclusions: Our data indicate that selection of a career in anesthesiology and training program are strongly associated with concerns regarding educa tional experiences and postgraduate employment opportunities. (C) 1999 by E lsevier Science Inc.