Journal article
A quarter-century of experience with career change education: an option for turning specialists into generalists
Academic medicine, v 70(1 Suppl), S110
Jan 1995
PMID: 7826452
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
The Physician Refresher program, now 25 years old, at the Medical College of Pennsylvania offers training to clinically inactive physicians. The authors examined the characteristics of program participants to determine whether specialists who took the program to prepare for a change to a primary care career made the intended change. Application data from all registrants between 1982 and 1993 were compared with data on previously reported groups from 1968-1975 and 1976-1981. Specialist registrants' subsequent practice activities were documented from the AMA Medical Directory and the American Board of Medical Specialties Directory; a telephone survey elicited their reasons for making or not making the career change to primary care. During the last decade of the program women registrants constituted 36% of the total; international medical graduates (IMGs) 43%; and clinically inactive physicians 38%. Specialists outnumbered those in primary care by two to one. Although 65% of specialists planned to switch to primary care, ultimately only 27% of the total did so; many, especially the IMGs, were serving the disadvantaged. Those who did not switch cited a variety of disincentives, including individual educational needs not met by a general refresher course. If the medical profession accepts the need to devise programs that "retool" specialists to provide primary care, those programs should be specifically designed to address the individual needs of the specialists involved. Concomitantly, the incentives to make the switch need to be enhanced.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- A quarter-century of experience with career change education: an option for turning specialists into generalists
- Creators
- A M Villaneuva - Drexel UniversityB G WhiteG D DonoghueAugusta M Villanueva - [Retired Faculty]
- Publication Details
- Academic medicine, v 70(1 Suppl), S110
- Publisher
- Lippincott
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- [Retired Faculty]
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:A1995QC65700018
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-0028851051
- Other Identifier
- 991019185108304721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Education, Scientific Disciplines
- Health Care Sciences & Services