HPB fellowship graduates: where do they stand today? Results from a survey study

Abstract

Presenter: Terence Jackson MD | Methodist Richardson Medical Center Background: Standardized HepatoPancreatoBiliary (HPB) Surgery fellowship certification process was initiated by the AHPBA and Fellowship council in 2010. Several classes of fellows have since graduated from HPB, SSO/HPB and ASTS/HPB programs but there is a information on their career outcomes. We seek to offer long term data on the careers of HPB fellowship graduates. Methods: A 26 question survey was distributed among graduates of HPB certificate programs for the last 10 years, for responses in an anonymous fashion. We generated descriptive statistics from the responses. Results: The respondents were 82% male and evenly distributed in terms of graduation years between 2010-2019; 58% graduated 4 years or less ago. 49% of fellows had completed a prior fellowship before starting the HPB fellowship. 71% of respondents held only 1 job, 25% held 2 jobs after graduation from fellowship. 40% had been at their current job for 4 years or more. “Not enough HPB”, “more dedicated HPB practice”, “better opportunity”, moving for “family/location” and “lack of support” were the most common reasons for moving from (in descending order). 56% of graduates desired an academic practice and 33% wanted a mixed practice after fellowship; 53% ended up in academic jobs and 24% in mixed jobs. 22% of fellowship ended up in private practice jobs compared to 11% who wished for such a set up. 31% of respondents stated that their practice was >50% HPB, 29% had a Surgical oncology/HPB practice while 33% had a case mix of at least 50% general surgery. 65% of respondents in the first three years of practice performed >40 HPB cases per year and 71% of respondents with 4 or greater years of practice performed >40 HPB cases per year. Conclusion: This anonymous survey helps shed light on the early formative years in practice of HPB fellowship graduates. With this preliminary data we can clearly see that almost twice the number of graduates end up in private practice as compared to expected. Non university/academic practices are more common than anticipated. Most graduates stay at their first job for at least 4 years. Even though most graduates performed >40 HPB cases per year even in their first 3 years of practice, general surgery form a significant part the practice for most graduates.