Canadian vascular surgery residents' perceptions regarding future job opportunities

Abstract

The objective was to determine the employment environment for graduates of Canadian vascular surgery training programs. A cross-sectional survey of residents and graduates (2011–2012) was used. Thirty-seven residents were invited with a response rate of 57%, and 14 graduates with a response rate of 71%; 70% of graduates felt the job market played an important role in their decision to pursue vascular surgery as a career compared to 43% of trainees. The top three concerns were the lack of surgeons retiring, the overproduction of trainees, and saturation of the job market. The majority (62%) of trainees see themselves extending their training due to lack of employment. All of the graduates obtained employment, with 50% during their second year (of two years) of training and 30% after training was completed. Graduates spent an average of 12 ± 10.6 months seeking a position and applied to 3.3 ± 1.5 positions, with a mean of 1.9 ± 1.3 interviews and 2 ± 1.2 offers. There was a discrepancy between the favorable employment climate experienced by graduates and the pessimistic outlook of trainees. We must be progressive in balancing the employment opportunities with the number of graduates. Number and timing of job offers is a possible future metric of the optimal number of residents.