553 - Fellowship Matching Rates – Association with Subspecialty Compensation Benchmarks and Gender

Sunday, April 30, 2023

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Poster Number: 553
Publication Number: 553.325

Harshitha Naidu, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Lincoln, CA, United States; Heather Siefkes, University of California Davis Children's Hospital, El Dorado Hills, CA, United States; Susan Guralnick, UC Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States; Daniel J. Tancredi, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, United States; satyanarayana Lakshminrusimha, UC Davis Children's Hospital, Sacramento, CA, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Harshitha Naidu, BS (she/her/hers)

Clinical Research Coordinator
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine
Lincoln, California, United States

Background:

The 2022 National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) fellowship matching rates for Pediatrics and Internal Medicine (IM) showed wide variation (0 to 54.6%) in unfilled positions across subspecialties.

Objective:

To evaluate the association between the percentage of unfilled positions, compensation, and gender distribution in each subspecialty.

Design/Methods:

We assessed Spearman rank correlations among the percentage of unfilled fellowship positions in Pediatrics and IM subspecialties (NRMP 2022), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) 3-year average salary for Assistant Professors (or Association of Administrators in Academic Pediatrics AAAP total compensation for pediatric subspecialties not listed in AAMC) and gender distribution of all providers (American Board of Pediatrics) or fellows (American Board of IM).

Results:

Among Pediatric subspecialties, unfilled fellowship positions were lowest for Gastroenterology (0.9%), Emergency Medicine (1.8%) and Cardiology (3.5%) and highest for Infectious Disease (50.6%) (figure 1). Among IM subspecialties, Cardiovascular disease had no unfilled positions and Geriatrics (54.6%) had the highest percentage of unfilled positions (figure 2). In Pediatrics, the percentage of unfilled positions had a strong inverse correlation (r; 95% CI) with compensation (-0.77; -0.92, -0.40) and a moderate but not statistically significant correlation with percentage female providers (0.45; -0.11, 0.79). In IM, these correlation estimates were similar: (-0.74; -0.95, -0.07) and (0.52; -0.29, 0.90) respectively. For both Pediatrics and IM, compensation benchmarks had a strong inverse correlation with percentage female providers (Peds: -0.71; -0.90, -0.29; IM: -0.81; -0.96, -0.24).

Conclusion(s):

Many non-procedural and non-critical care (CC) fellowships go unfilled in Pediatrics and IM; this shortage will impact healthcare. Female residents are matching into these subspecialties and receiving lower compensation. There is a dire need for appropriate strategies to increase compensation for non-procedural and non-CC subspecialties to minimize the gender gap in salary and improve patient access to these subspecialties.