Critical Care Medicine and Infectious Diseases: An Emerging Combined Subspecialty in the United States.

The recent rise in unfilled training positions among infectious diseases (ID) fellowship programs nationwide indicates that ID is declining as a career choice among internal medicine residency graduates. Supplementing ID training with training in critical care medicine (CCM) might be a way to regenerate interest in the specialty. Hands-on patient care and higher salaries are obvious attractions.

Where have all the general internists gone?

Background: A shortage of primary care physicians is expected, due in part to decreasing numbers of physicians entering general internal medicine (GIM). Practicing general internists may contribute to the shortage by leaving internal medicine (IM) for other careers in and out of medicine.

Objective: To better understand mid-career attrition in IM.

Who is maintaining certification in internal medicine--and why? A national survey 10 years after initial certification.

Background: The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) adopted a framework, called Maintenance of Certification (MOC), for all certifying boards to evaluate physicians' competence throughout their careers, with the goal of improving the quality of health care. The MOC participation rates of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) show that 23% of general internists and 14% of subspecialists choose not to renew their respective certificates.

Objective: To study U.

The mini-CEX: a method for assessing clinical skills.

Objective: To evaluate the mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX), which assesses the clinical skills of residents.

Design: Observational study and psychometric assessment of the mini-CEX.

Setting: 21 internal medicine training programs.