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ASN releases GWU report on nephrology fellows and future kidney health workforce
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The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) has released an analysis of results from the 2014 Nephrology Fellows Survey. The report provides a detailed portrait of current nephrology trainees and the potentially uncertain job market they face. The study—Findings from The 2014 Survey of Nephrology Fellows—is authored by researchers from George Washington University and is available online at www.asn-online.org/workforce.
“This analysis highlights the challenges the kidney community faces in rekindling interest in the critical specialty of nephrology,” said ASN President Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, FASN. “Workforce research is just one facet of ASN’s commitment to the future generation of nephrologists and the patients they will serve.”
The report is the second in a series produced in collaboration with GWU investigators Ed Salsberg, MPA, and Leah Masselink, PhD.
Related: 2015 Nephrology Match shows declining interest in nephrology
“This kind of survey can provide a good picture of the future supply,” said Salsberg. “The experience of new entrants into the job market can also provide a valuable snapshot of the regional and national demand.”
Among the findings:
- Although more women are choosing nephrology careers, the majority of 1st and 2nd year fellows are male (61%).
- Most nephrology fellows are international medical graduates (64%).
- A substantial proportion of nephrology fellows looking for employment reported changing their plans because of limited practice opportunities (43%).
- Nephrology fellows’ perceptions of local job opportunities (within 50 miles of their training site) were disappointing, although less so for national job opportunities
- Male fellows were more likely to rate salary and compensation as very important or important than female fellows. There was a statistically significant difference between male and female fellows’ satisfaction: female fellows (86%) were more likely than male fellows (62%) to indicate that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their salary and compensation.
- A substantial proportion of nephrology fellows (43%) who had looked for jobs reported that they had changed their plans because of limited practice opportunities.
ASN recently launched the ASN Nephrology Match Task Force, chaired by ASN President-Elect Raymond C. Harris, MD, FASN, and the ASN Blue Ribbon Panel on Career Development in Nephrology, chaired by ASN President Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, FASN.