http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/224354042

Postdoctorals vs. non-postdoctorals : career performance differentials within academic medicine

The research methodology developed in this paper was intended to shed some light on the question of career performance differentials within academic medicine between persons who have undergone postdoctoral training and those who have not. Compared were two groups of medical school faculty members (including M. D.'s and Ph.D.'s). One group included those who completed postdoctoral work before 1968. The second group was composed of those with no post doctoral support. The two groups of faculty members were compared on the following indicators of academic performance: (1) academic rank in 1972; (2) research orientation of the employing medical school in 1972; (3) research responsibility in 1972; (4) participation in nih training grants in 1972; and (5) participation in other federal research programs in 1972. The M. D. postdoctorals outscored the M. D. nonpostdoctorals on all four performance criteria. The score differences were found to be statistically significant for all but the second criterion. An analysis of Ph. D.'s in academic medicine found roughly twice as many M. D.'s in academic medicine as there are Ph.D.'S. The Ph.D. postdoctorals outscored the Ph.D. nonpostdoctorals on all academic performance criteria, but only two of these differences were statistically significant. Although it is not possible to conclude that exposure to postdoctoral training results in better career performance in academic medicine, it is certainly not possible to reject that notion. (Author/KE).

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