CLINICAL RHEUMATOLOGY TRAINING IN AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. Opinions of Recent and Current Rheumatology Fellows About an Extended Fellowship in Musculoskeletal Medicine
✍ Scribed by Steven A. Mazzuca; Kenneth D. Brandt
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1994
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 417 KB
- Volume
- 37
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0004-3591
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
To estimate among recent and current rheumatology fellows the appeal of a 3-year rheumatology fellowship emphasizing musculoskeletal medicine.
Methods. A survey of 348 trainee members of the American College of Rheumatology during 1990-1993, by mailed questionnaire.
Results. The response rate was 77.8% (n = 271). Both recent and current fellows indicated that they desired more experience in musculoskeletal medicine. Most notably, 50% of current fellows, and a significantly higher proportion of recent fellows (70%; P < 0.005), indicated that they would have opted for a 3-year fellowship in musculoskeletal medicine had one been available to them at the completion of their residency.
Conclusion. Expertise in musculoskeletal medicine is desired by a sufficient proportion of recent and current rheumatology fellows to warrant the investment in another year of training.
Early reports on plans for national health care reform describe a larger, more remunerative role for primary care physicians (general internists, family medicine specialists, and general pediatricians) in the US physician workforce (1,2). These reforms, if im-