Student loan debt and visa status influence on career choices for hematology and medical oncology fellows in the United States.

Abstract

11024 Background: There are multiple factors influencing future career plans for US hematology/oncology fellows. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of student loan debt and visa status as potential factors affecting their career choices. Methods: A total of 159 US hematology/oncology fellowship programs were contacted, program directors forwarded the survey to current hematology/oncology fellows and recent graduates (classes of 2019, 2018 and 2017). The survey consisted of 13 questions regarding their student loan debt and visa status, research experience, initial career plan, current career for graduates, the influence of student loan debt and visa status on their career decisions (academic, private practice, industry), and whether or not their training programs had resources or mentorship to help them deal with those factors. We used a scale of 1-5 to determine how much each factor affected career choice (1 = extremely unaffected, 5 = extremely affected). Results: A total of 220 physicians have participated, 177 (80.5%) fellows and 43 (19.5%) graduates. For graduates, 35% had student loans during fellowship, 40% of them thought that their loans affected their career choice with a score of 4-5. 93% of graduates with student loans answered that they weren't aware of resources/mentorship to address their loans effect on their career. 44% of graduates were on J1/H1 visa during training, 74% of them thought that their visa status affected their career choice with score of 4-5. 63% of graduates who were on visa answered that they weren't aware of resources/mentorship to address visa status as a factor influencing their career options. For current fellows, 51% have student loans, one third of them thought that their loans affected their career choice with score 4-5. 77% of fellows with student loans answered that they weren't aware of resources/mentorship to address their loans effect on their career. 16% of current fellows are on J1/H1 visa, 66% of them thought that their visa status is affecting their career choice with score 4-5. 62% of fellows who are on visa answered that they weren't aware of resources/mentorship to address visa status as a factor influencing their career options. Conclusions: Hematology/oncology fellows report that student loan debt and visa status are important factors affecting their career decisions. The majority of hematology/oncology fellows in this survey weren’t aware of resources or mentorship to help deal with these factors. Mentors need to be aware of these factors to help fellows achieve their career goals.