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Factors Affecting the Pursuit of Academic Careers Among Dermatology Residents

Cutis. 2015 April;95(4):231-236
April 13, 2015|Cutis
Lisa L. Aquino, MD, MS;Ge Wen, MS;Jashin J. Wu, MD
Author and Disclosure Information

Lisa L. Aquino, MD, MS; Ge Wen, MS; Jashin J. Wu, MD

From the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, California. Drs. Aquino and Wu are from the Department of Dermatology and Ms. Wen is from the Department of Research and Evaluation.

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Correspondence: Jashin J. Wu, MD, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, Department of Dermatology, 1515 N Vermont Ave, 5th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90027 (jashinwu@hotmail.com).

There is a shortage of academic dermatologists in the United States. This study aimed to examine characteristics of US dermatology residency programs that affect the odds of producing academic dermatologists. Data regarding program size, faculty, grants, alumni residency program attended, lectures, and publications for all accredited US dermatology residency programs were collected; these data were correlated with the ratio of graduating full-time faculty members to estimated total number of graduates for each respective program. Results emphasize that the ratio of faculty to residents and the number of full-time faculty publications may represent key factors by which residency programs can increase their graduation of academic dermatologists.

       Practice Points

  • ­Because of the shortage of academic dermatologists, dermatology residency programs may wish to create an environment that will produce residents who are more likely to pursue careers in academia.
  • Dermatology residency programs with more faculty members may encourage residents to enter careers in academia following graduation.

APPENDIX

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