Intensive Care Unit Rotations and Predictors of Career Choice in Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine: A Survey of Internal Medicine Residency Directors

BACKGROUND: The United States (US) is experiencing a growing shortage of critical care medicine (CCM) trained physicians. Little is known about the exposures to CCM experienced by internal medicine (IM) residents or factors that may influence their decision to pursue a career in pulmonary/critical care medicine (PCCM). METHODS: We conducted a survey of US IM residency program directors (PDs) and then used multivariable logistic regression to identify factors that were predictive of residency programs with a higher percentage of graduates pursuing careers in PCCM. RESULTS: Of the 249 PDs contacted, 107 (43%) completed our survey. University-sponsored programs more commonly had large ICUs (62.3% versus 42.2%, p=0.05), primary medical ICUs (63.9% versus 41.3%, p=0.03), and closed staffing models (88.5% versus 41.3%, p < 0.001). Residents from university-sponsored programs were more likely to pursue specialty fellowship training (p < 0.001) overall but equally likely to pursue careers in PCCM as those from community-sponsored programs. Factors predictive of residencies with a higher percentage of graduates pursuing training in PCCM included larger ICUs (>20 beds), residents serving as code leaders, and greater proportion of graduates pursuing specialization. CONCLUSIONS: While numerous differences exist between the ICU rotations at community- and university-sponsored IM residencies, the percentage of graduates specializing in PCCM was similar. Exposure to larger ICUs, serving as code leaders, and higher rates of specialization were predictive of a career choice in PCCM.