Ann Thorac Surg 2005;79:384
© 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Correspondence
Job Availability for Finishing Cardiothoracic Surgery Residents
Grayson H. Wheatley, III, MD
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, University of Texas at Southwestern Medical Center, 5939 Harry Hines Blvd, HA-9, Suite 135, Dallas, TX 75390-8879, USA
gwheat{at}parknet.pmh.org
To the Editor:
Doctor Lee is to be commended for bringing well-deserved attention to several of the present day issues facing cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) residents and their training programs [1]. These issues include perceived lack of job availability.
To complement the information obtained through the annual Thoracic Surgery Resident Association (TSRA) resident survey [1], I reviewed, as president of TSRA, the number of "Situations Available" (jobs) and "Fellowships" listed each month in the "Classified Advertisements" section of The Annals from January 1998 through December 2003 [2]. Although the CTSNet "Job Opportunities" section [3] was also available for job listings during the entire study period, I believe the number of jobs and fellowship opportunities listed in the "Classified Advertisements" section of The Annals represents a surrogate marker for assessing job availability.
Since 1999, there has been a steady decline in the total number of jobs listed each year in The Annals (Fig 1). For example, in 1999, 348 total jobs were listed, whereas in 2003, 171 total jobs were listed. That is an almost 50% reduction in the total number of jobs listed between 1999 and 2003, and correlates well with the perceived lack of job availability demonstrated in the TSRA survey [1]. During the study period, the number of graduating residents remained relatively steady. Unexpectedly, the total number of advertised fellowship positions remained relatively constant throughout the study period. These objective data, by themselves, are not proof that jobs are less available than they were in the past. However, taken in the context of the TSRA survey, it is suggestive that today's finishing residents may have fewer employment options available.
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Fig 1. Total number of jobs and fellowship positions listed annually in the "Classified Advertisements" section of The Annals from January 1998 through December 2003.
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References
- Lee R. Help wanted. Ann Thorac Surg. 2003;76:1779–1781[Free Full Text]
- Classified advertisements section. Ann Thorac Surg 1998;65(1) to 2003;75(6)
- CTSNet job opportunities. Available at: http://www.CTSnet.org/jobs/. Accessed December 6, 2004
