CURRENT POSITIONS OF GRADUATES OF INTERNAL-MEDICINE PEDIATRICS TRAINING-PROGRAMS

Objective: To determine what positions graduates of internal medicine- pediatrics programs currently hold. Design: A survey of the program di rectors of residencies in internal medicine-pediatrics. Participants: Program directors of the 85 internal medicine-pediatrics training prog rams listed in the 1993-1994 Graduate Medical Education Directory. Mai n Outcome Measures: A 1-page survey that described the current positio ns of trainees graduating between 1987 and 1993. Results: Seventy-four (87%) of the 85 program directors completed the survey. Of the 708 gr aduates reported on, 68% were practicing as generalists. The generalis ts of this cohort (n=480) were primarily in private practice settings (n=390, 81%) and most were practicing internal medicine-pediatrics (n= 416, 85%). Only 12% of the generalists had chosen to practice either p ediatrics or internal medicine. Twenty-one percent of the total gradua tes had entered subspeciality training. Conclusions: To our knowledge, the sample of 708 graduates is the largest survey of graduates of int ernal medicine-pediatrics programs to date and shows that 68% of gradu ates are practicing in primary care fields. Graduates of internal medi cine-pediatrics programs should be considered as an important source o f primary care physicians.