Survey of Anesthesiology Residents' Perceptions of Critical Care Medicine as a Career

Survey of Anesthesiology Residents' Perceptions of Critical Care Medicine as a Career at One Academic Center

This study's goal is to investigate the reasons behind the decline in interest in critical care fellowships among anesthesia residents.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Anesthesia
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Survey

Detailed Description

Anesthesia-based critical care medicine (CCM) is at a crossroads at the turn of the millennium. Although anesthesiologists were pioneers in the field of critical care, their surgical and pulmonary medicine counterparts have now eclipsed them in terms of both numbers and influence. In the United States, anesthesia-based CCM is a niche specialization of anesthesiology, while in Europe, anesthesiologists play a central role in critical care. Anesthesia-based critical care physician production has remained low on an annual basis. Some medical students join anesthesiology residencies with an interest in critical care training, but this enthusiasm appears to diminish as the number of years of residency grows. In the United States, anesthesiology residents have been unable to fill many critical care fellowship spots consistently. This survey aims to investigate the factors that influence residents' decision to pursue a career as a critical care physician, as it is essential to comprehend the underlying reasons for such a decline.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 100

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ban CH Tsui, MD; Phone Number: (650) 200-9107; Email: bantsui@stanford.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Ksenia Kasimova, MD; Phone Number: (650) 788-9458; Email: kasimova@stanford.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Stanford, California, United States, 94305
      • Stanford University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Anesthesiology residents at Stanford

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Anesthesiology residents at Stanford

Exclusion Criteria:

• Non-anesthesiology residents at Stanford

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Anesthesiology residents; We plan to distribute a survey to the Stanford anesthesiology residents to investigate the factors that influence residents' decision to pursue a career as a critical care physician.	Other: Survey; There will be no interventions for study participants. Participants will be asked to complete a survey.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Decline in applying to CCM fellowships	Examining the declining applying to CCM fellowship whether due to intrinsic factors (i.e., nature of CCM practice) vs extrinsic factors (i.e., job market and relative competing compensation)	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Stanford University
• Investigators: Study Director: Ban CH Tsui, MD, Stanford University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hanson CW 3rd, Durbin CG Jr, Maccioli GA, Deutschman CS, Sladen RN, Pronovost PJ, Gattinoni L. The anesthesiologist in critical care medicine: past, present, and future. Anesthesiology. 2001 Sep;95(3):781-8. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200109000-00034. No abstract available.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): November 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 29, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 29, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 4, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 1, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 30, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: anesthesia; perception; critical care medicine; fellowship; anesthesiology residency
• Other Study ID Numbers: 67638

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No