Graduate medical education in the United States
B. D. Rowley, D. C. Baldwin Jr, M. B. McGuire, S. I. Etzel and C. J. O'Leary
Department of Data Systems, American Medical Association.
The annual surveys of residency programs on which this report is based have
had a higher than 90% response rate for the 5 years previous to 1989.
Because of a change to the new electronic data collection system in 1989,
the response rate decreased to 78.3%. To adjust for the lower response
rate, a regression model computed from data from previous years was
developed that permitted projected estimates for 1989 data. These numbers
are included in several key tables. The number of GY-1 positions seems to
have decreased for 1990, although this may be an artifact of the response
rate. Reported unfilled positions, including GY-1 unfilled positions, have
increased each year since 1985. The number of new-entry residents (GY-1)
seems to be leveling out after decreasing since 1985. Because of the lower
response rate, it is difficult to determine the trend in the total number
of residents on duty. While the observed number of residents is lower than
in 1988, statistical projections indicate an increase of 5% over the 1988
count. Thirty-nine percent of residents were training in family practice,
internal medicine, or pediatrics. The number and percent of women in
residency programs has remained relatively stable despite a steady increase
in the number of women graduating from US medical schools. The percentage
of FMG residents has continued to decrease. The percentage of black
non-Hispanic residents remains steady. The number of graduates of
osteopathic medical schools in ACGME programs has increased 17% since 1987.
The number of institutions involved in graduate medical education has not
changed significantly during the past 3 years.
