Attrition in the Integrated Interventional Radiology Residency

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

10:39 AM – 10:48 AM CT

Location: Music City Center, 205 BC

Presenting Author(s)

Amina M. Karage

Medical Student
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, United States

Author/Co-author(s)

Jeffrey Forris Beecham Chick, MD, MPH

Professor of Clinical Radiology
Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, United States
DS

David S. Shin, MD

Associate Professor
University of Southern California, United States
Mina S. Makary, MD (he/him/his)

Interventional Radiologist
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, United States
JR

Jessica B. Robbins, MD

Professor
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, United States
EM

Eric Monroe, MD (he/him/his)

Professor
University of Wisconsin, United States

Purpose: To evaluate attrition in the Integrated Interventional Radiology (IR) residency compared to the Independent IR, Diagnostic Radiology (DR), and other residency programs.

Materials and Methods: This study was conducted based on publicly available data published by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) from 2017 to 2022 {1}. Residents were categorized as having transferred, withdrawn, dismissed, unsuccessfully completed, or deceased. Attrition rates were calculated by dividing the total number of departed residents by the total number of residents within a given specialty. Data for the IR residency was compared to other residency programs during the same period. Odds ratios and p values were calculated using multivariate logistic regression and Chi-squared test. A p value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The mean attrition rate of the Integrated IR residency was 3.2% (range: 2.3% - 4.8%) during the 5-year period. RY3 residents had the highest rate at 5.58%, which was significantly higher than RY1 (1.70%; p=0.001) and RY2 (2.69%; p=0.031), but not RY4 (2.84%; p=0.068). The Integrated IR residency attrition rates were higher than both Independent and DR programs. When compared to the Integrated IR residency, the odds of attrition were 73.7% lower for the Independent IR program (p=0.003) and 37.4% lower for the DR program (p=0.004).The Integrated IR residency attrition rates were comparable to General Surgery (p=1) and Integrated Thoracic Surgery (p=1), and higher than Family Medicine (p=0.001), Neurological Surgery (p=0.001), Integrated Vascular Surgery (p=0.025), Obstetrics and Gynecology (p=< 0.001), Internal Medicine (p=< 0.001), Orthopedic Surgery (p=< 0.001) and Emergency Medicine (p=< 0.001) residency programs.

Conclusion: There is high attrition in the Integrated IR program. Additional studies are needed to identify potential risk and mitigation factors.