Impact of Global Health Education on Pediatric Residency Applicants' Rank-List and Decision Process

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: The globalization of healthcare has contributed to a rapid increase in global health education (GHE) among residency programs. However the impact of GHE on pediatric residency selection and potential barriers to GHE have not been reported. Objective: Our objective was to identify associations between resident ranking preferences and, 1) past GHE experience, and 2) interest in GHE participation in future. Methods: Residents entering a large urban academic pediatric residency program from 2009 to 2014 were surveyed, to identify factors influencing pediatric residency program selection and the role of GHE in ranking and career decisions. Results: 86.5% (n=294) of the 340 entering residents responded (67.2% female; 74.6% white; mean age [SD] of 27 years [2.3]). About 50% (n=147) had prior GHE experience, and 90.4% endorsed interest in participating in GHE rotations. Availability of faculty mentorship, financial support, and personal safety were the most important factors influencing interest in participation. Non-white residents were more likely than white residents to have prior GHE experience (p=0.02). Residents with prior GHE experience were more familiar with the program's GHE opportunities prior to submitting their rank-lists (p=0.004). They gave greater importance to availability of GHE opportunities, in-country (p<0.001) and away (p<0.001), during the ranking process, while the geographical location of a residency program was less important (p=0.02). Conclusion: Our results document significant interest in GHE among incoming pediatric residents, and significant impact of availability of GHE on residency program selection. Availability of mentorship and financial support are important to pediatric residents interested in GHE.