Section of Thoracic Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
J Surg Educ. 2013 Sep-Oct;70(5):640-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2013.02.007. Epub 2013 Apr 15.
Applications to thoracic residency have decreased. The causes are multifactorial, but include changing motivations such as lifestyle concerns. Thoracic residents (TRs) have been well studied, but no one has ever characterized the influence or motivations of their spouses. We sought to evaluate the demographics and interests of TR spouses.
An electronic survey was sent to all TR applicants over 2 years at 2 training programs and to all current TRs in 2010. Recipients were asked to forward the survey to their spouses. Responses were analyzed globally and compared in subgroups.
Sixty-six surveys were completed and returned for a response rate of 19%. Among them, 86% of respondents were female, with 82% being married for a mean of 4.3 years. Fifty-nine percent of respondents had children and 64% were planning on having more children within 3 years. Hundred percent felt optimistic that they would be financially stable after training, but only 57% were optimistic about quality of life after training. Eighty-four percent felt that they had influence on the choice of training program. Almost 80% wanted more information on salary, housing, and access to faculty spouses. Quality of fellowship, geographic location, and proximity to family were the top 3 factors in choosing a program.
Nearly 90% of respondents reported they want to travel to more interviews, and nearly 90% of respondents reported having some to complete influence over which training program to attend. It is safe to presume, therefore, that applicant spouses are not only highly influential on TR applicants but also interested in greater inclusion in the interview process. The results show numerous demographic and characteristic trends which, if further validated by definitive studies, would be applicable to all post-surgery residency training programs and may help TR programs to be more competitive in attracting applicants and their families.
胸科住院医师的申请人数有所减少。原因是多方面的，但包括生活方式等动机的变化。胸科住院医师（TRs）已经得到了很好的研究，但没有人描述过他们配偶的影响或动机。我们试图评估 TR 配偶的人口统计学和兴趣。
在 2 个培训项目中，我们向 2 年期间的所有 TR 申请人以及 2010 年的所有现任 TR 发送了一份电子调查。收件人被要求将调查转发给他们的配偶。对全球和子组中的响应进行了分析。
完成并返回了 66 份调查，回复率为 19%。其中，86%的受访者为女性，82%已婚，平均结婚时间为 4.3 年。59%的受访者有孩子，64%计划在 3 年内再要孩子。100%的人对培训后经济稳定持乐观态度，但只有 57%对培训后的生活质量持乐观态度。84%的人认为他们对培训计划的选择有影响。近 80%的人希望获得更多关于薪酬、住房和与教职员工配偶接触的信息。奖学金质量、地理位置和接近家人是选择项目的前 3 个因素。
近 90%的受访者表示他们希望参加更多的面试，近 90%的受访者表示对选择参加哪个培训项目有一定的影响力。因此，可以有把握地假设，申请人的配偶不仅对 TR 申请人有很大的影响力，而且对更大程度地参与面试过程也很感兴趣。研究结果显示了许多人口统计学和特征趋势，如果进一步通过确定性研究加以验证，将适用于所有术后住院医师培训计划，并有助于 TR 计划在吸引申请人及其家属方面更具竞争力。
