P1238 - Mapping Professional Trajectories: Comparing Career Plans of Gastroenterology Fellows and Other Internal Medicine Subspecialties

Saqr Alsakarneh, MD¹, Fouad Jaber, MD¹, Vinay Jahagirdar, MD¹, Saeed Abughazaleh, MD², Muhammad Shah Miran, MD¹, Mir Zulqarnain, DO¹, Palmer Quinton, MD¹, Mohammad Almeqdadi, MD³, Nikki duong, MD⁴, Wendell Clarkston, MD^5
1University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO; ²St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Brighton, MA; ³Lahey Medical Center, Boston, MA; ⁴Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; ⁵University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO

Introduction: While it is important to prioritize career planning as an integral part of fellowship training, market forces may impact plans for advanced training after graduation. This study aims to compare the post-fellowship paths of gastroenterology (GI) fellows with those of other internal medicine (IM) sub-specialties.

Methods: We used the American Medical Association (AMA) data to examine graduating GI fellows’ career plans for 2021/2022. Data were collected from program directors who reported their graduates' plans after graduation. Data were tabulated using Microsoft Excel, and a comparative analysis of all parameters was performed using the Chi-Square analysis method. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Data from 4316 graduating IM sub-specialty fellows were collected and analyzed. Of the gastroenterologists who graduated in 2021, career plans were private practice, academia, and advanced training in 46%, 26%, and 28%, respectively (Fig. 1-a). GI fellows were more likely to practice as general gastroenterologists in private sectors than to pursue advanced training or work in academics (p-value < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference between completing advanced training or entering an academic practice among GI fellows (p-value = 0.20) (Fig. 1-B). Compared to fellows in other IM subspecialties (38.4%), GI fellows were more likely to practice without advanced training (46.3%) (p-value < 0.001) (Figure 2-a&b). Conversely, GI fellows were less likely to work as academicians (25.6%) than fellows in other IM subspecialties (30.7%) (P-value = 0.01). No significant difference was found between GI (28.1%) and other fellows (28.0%) in terms of pursuing advanced training (p-value = 0.92) (Fig. 1-C). There was no difference between GI and other IM subspecialty fellows regarding practicing in the same specialty or program state where they graduated, with p-values of 0.26 and 0.13, respectively. However, GI fellows were more likely to practice in groups than fellows from other IM subspecialties (P-value = 0.002) (Fig. 1-D).

Discussion: GI fellows are less likely to pursue academic careers than practice as general gastroenterologists in the private sector or pursue advanced training. The factors behind the declining interest in academic careers are complex, including lifestyle and financial considerations. Multi-level systematic changes are needed to address and understand these differences.




Disclosures:


Saqr Alsakarneh, MD¹, Fouad Jaber, MD¹, Vinay Jahagirdar, MD¹, Saeed Abughazaleh, MD², Muhammad Shah Miran, MD¹, Mir Zulqarnain, DO¹, Palmer Quinton, MD¹, Mohammad Almeqdadi, MD³, Nikki duong, MD⁴, Wendell Clarkston, MD⁵. P1238 - Mapping Professional Trajectories: Comparing Career Plans of Gastroenterology Fellows and Other Internal Medicine Subspecialties, ACG 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Vancouver, BC, Canada: American College of Gastroenterology.