Professional satisfaction among new osteopathic family physicians: a survey-based investigation of residency-trained graduates.

CONTEXT Progressively more osteopathic graduates are seeking training opportunities in programs accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). OBJECTIVE To determine if family medicine residency training program choice (ie, allopathic [ACGME], osteopathic, or dually accredited) has an impact on professional satisfaction levels among recent osteopathic medical school graduates. METHODS The authors designed a survey instrument to gather data on professional satisfaction levels. Osteopathic family physicians who completed residency training from 1999-2003 were asked to participate in the study. RESULTS The survey was sent to 2284 individuals with an adjusted response rate of 37%. One hundred and one (15.8%) of the osteopathic family physicians who responded reported completing residency training programs approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA); 335 (52.3%), ACGME-accredited programs; 198 (30.9%), dually accredited programs. One hundred forty-three surveyed osteopathic physicians (22.3%) were less than happy with their career choice. In addition, 219 (34.2%) reported that they were "thinking of changing...specialty," and 30 (4.7%) reported that they were not "currently practicing family medicine." Individuals trained in ACGME programs reported slightly higher levels of professional satisfaction than individuals trained in AOA-approved or dually accredited programs--though these differences were deemed trivial (ie, low effect size, 0.01; P>.05). CONCLUSION The authors found no statistically significant differences in professional satisfaction levels among osteopathic family physicians who were recent medical school graduates regardless of residency training program choice.