From 1994 through 1997, the American Medical Association (AMA) conducted a series of national surveys of residency program directors and graduating residents about the career opportunities of resident physicians.

Key Results

The AMA accomplished the following during the grant period:

• In 1994, surveyed 3,090 resident program directors and 3,977 graduating residents about job opportunities available to resident physicians completing training in 1994.
• In 1996, surveyed 3,819 program directors about their 1995 graduates and 12,138 graduating residents.
• In 1997, surveyed 7,604 physicians who had completed residency in 1995 and 3,720 program directors about their 1996 graduates.

Key Findings

The AMA reported the following findings to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and in three articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):

• In 1994, generalist physicians were having fewer problems finding preferred positions than were specialists.
• In 1995 and 1996, international medical graduates; those completing programs in the Pacific or East North Central region; and those in several specialties (hematology, pathology, geriatric medicine, oncology, ophthalmology and general internal medicine) were having the most difficulty finding clinical positions.
• Graduates of the subspecialties of anesthesiology and plastic surgery, who were reported as having had the greatest difficulty finding acceptable positions in 1994, had less difficulty in 1995.

Funding

RWJF provided two grants totaling $327,075 from November 1994 to February 1998 to support the work.