Psychiatry Resident Census Continues Recent Decline

The number of residents in training has dropped by 321 since academic year 1996-1997, and many more women residents than men residents are involved in residency training on a part-time basis, according to the 1999-2000 APA Census of Psychiatry Residents, which was conducted for the first time in collaboration with the American Medical Association (AMA).

The survey reduced the number of data requests funneled to residency training directors, according to James W. Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., who is the director of APA’s Division of Education, Minority, and National Programs. A total of 482 residency directors of training programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) completed the survey, for a 99 percent response rate. Programs represented in the survey included general, child and adolescent, geriatric, addictions, and/or combined specialty psychiatry programs.

APA has conducted the resident census annually since academic year 1968-69, and the APA and AMA leadership use the census results from past years to compare with more recent results. The 1999-2000 census results, for instance, are compared with the findings from the 1996-97 APA Census of Psychiatry Residents, the last survey with a 100 percent response rate. The comparison allows leaders to evaluate important trends in the residency training programs.

In explaining the loss of 321 residents from training programs over the past three years, Thompson commented, “In conversations with ACGME, we believe there has been a decrease in the number of residents due to program mergers, closures, and downsizing.” Thompson added that one merger led to a decrease in the overall number of residents by 24, and another program lost 15 residents.

“However,” he pointed out, “we have to be mindful that we have a new data collection strategy since joining forces with the AMA, and this may have contributed to the decrease as well. In all likelihood, it’s a combination of a real decrease and a change in methodology.”

Gender differences were apparent in the 1999-2000 census results, with the percentage of women residents rising from 45 percent in 1996-97 to 49 percent in the 1999-2000 census.

Perhaps the most significant discrepancy between the genders, however, was the percentage of men and women residents completing their training on a part-time basis. While only 23 percent of the men were working part time, more than three times as many women—77 percent—were doing the same. According to Thompson, it has long been known that women often choose part-time residencies because of family responsibilities, but this is the first time it has been quantified in the APA Census.

Currently, APA’s Committee on Medical School Education and the Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Education are working on a comprehensive plan to define APA’s role with medical students, which will be presented to APA’s Board of Trustees in early 2001.

Data collection for the 2000-01 AMA/APA resident survey is now taking place. This year the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which usually launches an independent survey of residency training programs, is joining the collaboration.

More information about the survey is available by contacting AMA survey support by phone at (800) 866-6793 or by e-mail at [email protected]. Information about APA’s participation in the survey and and its census reports is available by contacting Nancy Delanoche by phone at (202) 682-6126 or by e-mail at [email protected]. ▪