Thomas H. Dial

Characteristics of Senior Medical Students Planning to Subspecialize in Child Psychiatry

Abstract Association of American Medical Colleges survey data and a discriminant analysis were used to differentiate senior medical students planning to specialize in general psychiatry from their counterparts planning to subspecialize in child psychiatry. Of the 17 independent variables selected for study, four demonstrated some predictive power: (a) having taken elective coursework or a clerkship in pediatrics or a related subspecialty, (b) having not attended a research-oriented medical school, (c) being a woman, and (d) having not attended a primary care-oriented medical school. All were associated with plans to subspecialize in child psychiatry. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry , 1988, 27, 4:404–407.

Gender Differences in Faculty Retention and Rank Attainment in Academic Departments of Psychiatry

Using 1989 data from the Faculty Roster System of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the authors examined gender differences in retention and rank attainment of psychiatry faculty who had received their first full-time medical school appointments in 1978. Retention differences between men and women were not significant in either the M.D. or the Ph.D. subgroup. Women M.D.’s in the sample had advanced through the academic ranks to a significantly lesser extent than had men M.D.’s; the rank attainment differences among Ph.D.’s, however, were not significant. These results underscore the need for more study of gender differences in the career paths of faculty in academic psychiatry departments.

Factors associated with future psychiatrists' selection of academic or clinical careers.

Graduation Questionnaire data collected by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) were used to identify student and medical school characteristics associated with future psychiatrists’ career plans. Subjects were senior medical students in the class of 1986 who definitely planned to specialize in psychiatry or child psychiatry. Medical school variables such as research experience, publication history, and exposure to a research-oriented environment were associated with plans for a career in academic medicine or research (versus clinical practice). Membership in a non-underrepresented minority group, having taken elective course work at a military or government agency, and having attended a private medical school all were associated with plans for a career in salaried clinical practice (versus private clinical practice).