Academics or private practice? The future of dermatologic surgery education.

BACKGROUND

The career choices of Mohs fellows have important implications for ensuring the quality of dermatologic surgery training during residency. No published data examine the career choices of fellows in Mohs micrographic surgery.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the number of Mohs fellows entering academics and to examine the influence of fellowship characteristics, scholarly activities, and personal background on career decision.

METHODS

A voluntary survey was distributed by mail in June 2004 to all Mohs fellows-in-training during 2003-2004.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine percent (12 of 42) of the fellows chose jobs in an academic or university setting. The practice setting of the fellowship, personal factors, and scholarly activities prior to fellowship did not correlate with career decision. By contrast, increased scholarly activities during fellowship and an interest in teaching did correlate with the choice to enter academics.

CONCLUSIONS

A significant percentage of Mohs fellows pursued academics. Increased academic productivity during the fellowship and an interest in teaching correlated with the decision to pursue an academic career. Fellowship directors interested in encouraging academic careers may find these data useful to structure their curricula and to mentor fellows inquiring about academic careers.