The effect of a primary-care pathway on internal medicine residents' career plans.

There has been no evidence that primary-care pathways, a recent innovation in internal medicine residency programs, have affected the career choices of their trainees. We report the experience of the first four cohorts of primary-care trainees in internal medicine compared with traditional-pathway trainees at Boston City Hospital. Primary-care residents remained committed to their plans for a career in general internal medicine throughout training. In contrast, two thirds of the traditionally trained residents who were planning a career in general internal medicine at the beginning of their training changed their plans to subspecialty medicine. Thus, the primary-care pathway reinforced the career plans of trainees in general internal medicine, whereas traditional training influenced potential generalists toward subspecialty medicine.