La especialidad de Pediatría sigue teniendo interés para los residentes

Abstract

Introduction: the objective of our work as to analyse the interest of residents who begin their training in the specialty of paediatrics and its specific areas, based on the order in which open residency spots were filled throughout the years. Methodology: analysis of data obtained from the register of the medical intern resident (MIR) selection process in the past 9 years, current paediatrician positions in the National Health System and a study on the projected need for medical specialists in 2021-2035. Results: in the last nine years, there has been an increase in the number of available spots from 392 to 501. Since more spots are available now, the last one is, as expected, filled later in the selection process. Thus, the delay in spot allocation has been of 49%, but if the number of spots had not increased, it would have been of 17%. The number of candidates who could not choose paediatrics because all residency spots had been filled when their turn arrived increased by 28% from 2703 to 3469. Given that the rate of transfer or attrition in the paediatrics residency programme is minimal, it would be possible to offer more spots, as they would be filled appropriately. Most job openings in paediatrics are in primary care (65%) followed by hospital-based paediatric care (35%). Conclusions: paediatrics continues to be an appealing speciality for candidates to MIR training. If more MIR spots were offered, more residents would choose the paediatrics specialty. Given that most job opportunities are ins primary care, training in this setting should be reinforced in the MIR programme.