There is more and more interest in making sure the pediatric sub-specialty pipeline is flush with trainees interested in fellowship training, and yet there are concerns that job satisfaction may not be high which could affect future workforce numbers in pediatric sub-specialties. So is lack of job satisfaction a myth or a reality?Freed et al. (10.1542/peds.2015-3298) elected to look at whether the first job post-fellowship for new sub specialists met their professional and clinical goals. The authors collected 97% of more than 3000 surveys given at the time of new graduate sub specialty fellows sitting for their certification exams and collected data on the factors influencing their choice of first position as well as how well this position compared with their ideal professional responsibilities and desired time spent in clinical care (e.g. full vs. part time).
The good news is that almost 75% of the respondents surveyed reported they were happy with the position they had chosen for their first job as well as in regard to their allocation of time spent caring for inpatients versus outpatients. This bodes well for hopefully keeping the sub-specialty pipeline flush with future residents choosing fellowship training—and makes you want to know if the same is true for primary care training.
If you are a recent graduate of fellowship training, let us know if you are among the high percentage of satisfied graduates and if not, let us know why not, by posting a response to this blog, entering a comment where indicated on our website or on our Facebook and Twitter links.
