Abstract
Background Throughout graduate and postgraduate education, trainees need to gauge the impact
of training location on future institutions of practice.
Objective We assessed rates of internal hiring of ophthalmology faculty at academic institutions
from their same institution of training.
Methods This was a cross-sectional study. We included 1,246 clinical ophthalmology faculty
at the 13 top-ranked institutions listed in the 2021 U.S. News and World Report. Primary,
emeritus, adjunct, and affiliate faculty were included. Publicly available information
was collected from institutional websites and other online sources. Statistical analyses
were conducted using t-tests or Mann–Whitney tests, chi-squared or Fisher's exact tests, and multivariate
logistic regression. The main outcome measured was internal hires, defined as faculty
who had completed residency and/or fellowship training at their current institution.
Results In total, 47.3% of faculty were internal hires who completed residency or fellowship
at the same institution. Among externally trained faculty, 27.7% completed residency
and 56.0% completed fellowship at another top 13 programs. Internal hires were more
frequently fellowship-trained, had a greater number of publications, and practiced
in smaller departments (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.002, respectively). A greater proportion of internal hires held leadership positions
(p = 0.012). Faculty practicing in the Midwest or West and with more years since residency
graduation were less likely (odds ratio [OR], 0.29, 95% confidence interval [CI],
0.18–0.48; OR, 0.49, 95% CI, 0.31–0.78; OR, 0.98, 95% CI, 0.97–0.99, respectively)
to be internal hires. Faculty with non-R01 National Institutes of Health funding were
more likely to be internal hires (OR, 1.82, 95% CI: 1.12–2.96).
Conclusions Training institution is key to determining the institution of practice. These results
may be beneficial for trainees to consider when selecting a training program.
Keywords
Retention - Training location - Internal hiring - Residents and fellows - Fellowship
- Ophthalmology faculty
