First Job and Promotion: Is there an internal bias in academic plastic surgery employment?
Francesco M. Egro, MBChB MSc MRCS, Justin Beiriger, BSE, Eva Roy, BS, Vu T. Nguyen, MD.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Plastic Surgery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Background: Following completion of training, a physician’s training institution has a lasting and meaningful impact on career trajectory. Training program influence on first job placement and academic promotions remain uncertain in academic plastic surgery. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of training and internal bias in academic plastic surgery employment and promotion.
Methods: Academic plastic surgery faculty were identified through an internet search of all ACGME-accredited residency training programs. Online faculty profiles, Doximity, LinkedIn, private-practice, and public websites were used to gather faculty demographics, training background, employment and leadership status. The analysis examined the impact of internal recruitment bias on first job employment, the impact of training history on institutional leadership promotion (chief, residency director, or fellowship director), and the impact of alumni effect on academic employment.
Results: A total of 931 academic plastic surgeons were identified. For assistant professors that graduated in the past 3 years, 38.6% are practicing at the same institution as where they received residency or fellowship training. Of the 229 institutional leaders, 31.5% of Chairs, 39.6% of Residency Directors, and 37.5% of Fellowship Directors were internal hires. Overall, 34% of plastic surgery faculty in the US share a common training program with at least one colleague. The top 5 programs that have the most faculty who trained at their hiring institution are Harvard (30 faculty), University of Southern California (15 faculty), University of California Los Angeles (12 faculty), University of Michigan (12 faculty) and Albert Einstein (12 faculty). Overall, 54% of plastic surgery departments employ 2 or more faculty who share a common external training program. The top 5 programs that have the most faculty who share an external training program are (1) Methodist Houston, 8 faculty who trained at Baylor; (2) Hofstra, 7 faculty who trained at NYU; (3) Stanford, 6 faculty who trained at UCLA; (4) Wisconsin, 5 faculty who trained at UPMC; (5) USC, 4 faculty who trained at NYU.
Conclusion: The study highlights that a limited internal bias exists in the recruitment for first jobs and leadership promotions. However, a clear bias of internal hiring exists at several institutions. In addition, an alumni effect was identified, where some programs have a bias of hiring faculty who trained at the same external institution. These findings may have implications on institutional selection for those seeking positions in academic Plastic Surgery.
Back to 2019 Abstracts