Career opportunities and guidance among early-career anaesthesiologists - A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The opportunities to work for early-career anaesthesiologists are in various sectors such as teaching institutes, private practice, and corporate hospitals in India or abroad. The primary aim of the survey was to determine whether early-career anaesthesiologists wanted to work in India or abroad. The secondary objectives were to determine the proportion of early-career anaesthesiologists who wished to pursue further studies and what degree they wanted to pursue.

METHODS

A validated questionnaire containing questions related to career preferences was circulated by social media among early-career anaesthesiologists via Google Forms. The survey questionnaire focussed on whether the respondents wanted to work in India or abroad or pursue further studies. The survey results were tabulated in an Excel sheet. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data, and the Chi-square test was applied where appropriate. Age-group preferences and gender preferences were also analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 684 responses were received. The mean (SD) age of the respondents was 31.4 (2.8) years. Among the respondents, 64.1% were female, and 35.9% were male. Of the respondents, 309 (72.5%) were in a job, 50 (11.7%) were pursuing Society-recognised fellowships, and the rest were pursuing super-specialisation degrees or University-recognised fellowships. Two hundred and eighty-six respondents (75.5%) wanted to study outside India. Only 155 (36.6%) had career guidance from immediate contacts or mentors.

CONCLUSION

Early-career anaesthesiologists want to pursue further degrees and fellowships after their graduation in anaesthesiology. Career guidance is an important aspect of anaesthesiology training.