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Impact of AOA Status and Perceived Lifestyle on Career Choices of Medical School Graduates

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ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Based upon student ratings of such factors as predictable work hours and personal time, medical specialties have been identified as lifestyle friendly, intermediate, or unfriendly. Lifestyle friendly programs may be more desirable, more competitive, and for students elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society, more attainable.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether AOA students increasingly entered lifestyle friendly residency programs and whether trends in program selection differed between AOA and non-AOA graduates.

DESIGN

This retrospective cohort study examined PGY-2 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the 12 allopathic schools in the Associated Medical Schools of New York.

PARTICIPANTS

Data on 1987–2006 graduates from participating schools were evaluated.

MAIN MEASURES

Residency program selection over the 20-year period served as the main outcome measure.

KEY RESULTS

AOA graduates increasingly entered lifestyle-friendly residencies—from 12.9% in 1987 to 32.6% in 2006 (p < 0.01). There was also a significant decrease in AOA graduates entering lifestyle unfriendly residencies, from 31.6% in 1987 to 12.6% in 2006 (p < 0.01). Selection of lifestyle intermediate residencies among AOA graduates remained fairly stable at an average of 53%. Similar trends were found among non-AOA students. However, within these categories, AOA graduates increasingly selected radiology, dermatology, plastic surgery and orthopedics while non-AOA graduates increasingly selected anesthesiology and neurology.

CONCLUSIONS

While lifestyle factors appear to influence residency program selection, AOA graduates differentially were more likely to either choose or attain certain competitive, lifestyle-friendly specialties. Health care reform should be targeted to improve lifestyle and decrease income disparities for specialties needed to meet health manpower needs.

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Contributors

Investigators acknowledge the assistance of Ms. Jennifer Faerberg, Association of American Medical Colleges, and Ms. Jo Wiederhorn, Associated Medical Schools of New York, in obtaining the source data for this study, neither of whom received any compensation for such assistance. Investigators also acknowledge the twelve New York State medical schools that participated in this study by providing the requested data.

Funders

None

Prior Presentations

Preliminary findings of this study were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges, Boston, MA, November 2009 (poster).

Conflict of Interest

None disclosed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of Medical Education and Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Martha S. Grayson MD

  2. Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    Dale A. Newton MD

  3. Office of Health Outcomes Research, Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY, USA

    Patricia A. Patrick DrPH

  4. School of Health Sciences and Practice, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA

    Patricia A. Patrick DrPH

  5. Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Hempstead, NY, USA

    Lawrence Smith MD

Authors
  1. Martha S. Grayson MD
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  2. Dale A. Newton MD
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  3. Patricia A. Patrick DrPH
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  4. Lawrence Smith MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martha S. Grayson MD.

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Grayson, M.S., Newton, D.A., Patrick, P.A. et al. Impact of AOA Status and Perceived Lifestyle on Career Choices of Medical School Graduates. J GEN INTERN MED 26, 1434–1440 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1811-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1811-9

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