Dermatologists with PhDs more likely to go academic.

To revitalize the field of academic dermatology, residency programs should focus on attracting medical doctors who also have PhDs because they are more likely to choose careers in academia, according to Dr. Jashin J. Wu of the University of California, Irvine, and his associates.

"Unfortunately, there are less and less dermatology residents going into academics--they prefer to go into private practice--so there will be less and less dermatologists to provide training in the future. It is important for us to find out why," Dr. Wu said in an interview.

In the study, he and his colleagues analyzed 107 U.S. dermatology residency programs as of December 2004 and identified 782 full-time faculty MDs. Of these, 72 (9.2%) were MD/PhDs (Dermatol. Online J. 2008;14:27).

Using the University of Alabama, Birmingham, National MD/PhD Residency Data, the investigators calculated that another 72 MD/PhDs matched into dermatology residencies between 2004 and 2007, filling 5.8% of 1,236 residency positions during this time period.

Using unpublished data to estimate the total number of dermatology residency graduates over the past 35 years, Dr. Wu and his associates extrapolated that 14% of MD/PhDs were full-time academic dermatologists as of December 2004, compared with 8.6% of MDs--revealing that MD/PhDs were 1.63 times more likely than MDs to enter an academic position after completing residency and 1.58 times more likely to stay in that position.

Among the 72 MD/PhDs who filled full-time faculty positions as of December 2004, 9.7% were dermatology chiefs or department chairs. This compared with 13.2% of full-time academic MDs who filled chief or chair positions, reported Dr. Wu and his colleagues.

"It is imperative that academic dermatologists identify markers that can discern those who are truly interested in academics. The title of MD/PhD could be used as an instrument by dermatology residency directors to choose dermatology applicants who are more dedicated to academics," they wrote.

BY KATE JOHNSON

Montreal Bureau