Abstract
Purpose: :
To determine which criteria are important and used by retina fellowship directors in their selection of fellows.
Methods: :
Eighty–five retina fellowships in the United States and Canada listed in the San Francisco Matching Program as of 9/8/05 were included. A cover letter explaining the survey and a questionnaire using a Likerd Scale of 1–9 addressing application material requested by programs were sent to each director. The fellowship directors were also asked what criteria they felt was the most important component of the application and if they favor ACGME Accreditation for Vitreoretinal Fellowships. The mean score for each question was calculated.
Results: :
Seventy–three percent of questionnaires were returned (72% of academic and 80% of private practice programs). The applicant’s ability to work and communicate with colleagues and patients, the interview itself, and letters of recommendation from retina faculty scored most important (8.49, 8.39, and 7.79, respectively, on the Likerd Scale). Whether an applicant had a PhD or MPH, other advanced degrees, and the personal statement were the least important (4.59, 3.97, 5.20, respectively). Regarding ACGME Accreditation, 41% were in favor, 45% were against, and 14% were undecided. When divided by program make–up, 50% of private practice programs favored accreditation versus 39% of academic programs (p–value = 0.396).
Conclusions: :
Based on the responses of the fellowship directors, the ability to work and communicate with colleagues and patients, the interview itself, and letters of recommendation from retina faculty are the most important data used when selecting a retina fellow. There continues to be a split regarding ACGME Accreditation.
Keywords: retina • learning • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: health care delivery/economics/manpower