Characteristics of Global Health Careers among Graduates of a Global Health Equity Residency Training Program in the United States

Abstract

Background: The number of global health (GH) physician training programs in the United States has increased in the past decade. Few studies have explored the demographics of individuals in these programs, the impact of global health training on career development, and specific factors associated with whether graduates achieve a career in global health.

Objectives: We aimed to describe characteristics of program graduates and quantify which previously identified factors were associated with achieving a self-defined career in GH among a cohort of graduates from one GH post-graduate training program in a highly resourced academic medical center in the United States between 2003 and 2018.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey and analyzed differences between participants who self-identified as having a career in GH compared to those who did not.

Findings: Among 59 individuals invited to participate, 53 (89.9%) responded to the survey. Having a GH mentor was associated with having a career in GH (OR 10.3; p = 0.004). Those who had a GH career were more likely to have a clearly-defined career path (p = 0.03), have institutional support in their current job (p = 0.00006), be able to manage the split between their GH and non-GH work (p = 0.0001), find funding to achieve their objectives in GH (p = 0.01), invest in their personal and family life (p = 0.05), and split work abroad and domestically with few challenges (p = 0.01).

Conclusions: We present sociodemographic and career characteristics for graduates from a GH training program in a highly resourced academic medical center in the United States. Mentorship, institutional support, funding, ability to balance GH with non-GH work, and time spent domestically or abroad are key factors associated with successful careers in GH. If institutional funding is allocated to strengthen these aspects of GH training, we anticipate more sustained GH career development.

Keywords: global health equity; health education; postgraduate medical training.