Job turnover and its correlates among residency program directors in internal medicine: A three-year cohort study

Purpose. In 1983, 43% of internal medicine residency program directors had held their positions for less than three years. The purposes of this study were to determine the job turnover rate for internal medicine program direc tors, and the characteristics of program directors and residency programs t hat are associated with job turnover. Method. In October 1996, questionnaires were sent to all non-military inter nal medicine residency program directors in the continental United States l isted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The questionnaire covered demographics, program characteristics, and job sa tisfaction. In October 1999, an updated ACGME list was used to contact prog rams to verify changes in program directors and determine the dates of chan ge. Results. A total of 262 usable responses were received. At the beginning of the study, 49% of the respondents had been on the job for three years or l ess, and 74 (29%) were no longer program directors three years later. Overa ll job satisfaction was highly associated (p<.01) with turnover. Multivaria te Cox regression modeling yielded four variables independently associated with turnover: low satisfaction with colleague relationships (hazard ratio = 3.2, 95% CI=1.6-6.4), a high percentage of administrative work time (HR=2 .9, 95% CI=1.4-6.2), perceiving the job as a "steppingstone" (HR=1.8, 95% C I=1.0-3.2), and having had formal training to deal with problem residents ( HR=0.6, 95% CI=0.4-1.1). Respondents with burnout, with the titles of progr am director and chair or department chief, and with less than two years on the job had nonsignificant trends toward job turnover. Variables not associ ated with turnover included gender, rank, salary, and program size. Conclusions. Yearly turnover for internal medicine residency program direct ors is substantial. The four independent predictors of turnover identified in this study should be of interest to institutions recruiting or retaining program directors and to aspiring program directors.