Purpose: To determine the fellowship experiences and career activities of the graduates of a research-intensive general internal medicine fellowship program.
Method: In 1997, the authors surveyed all graduates of the Harvard General Internal Medicine Fellowship Program, a research-intensive fellowship begun in 1979.
Results: Of 105 surveys delivered to graduates, 103 (98%) were returned. During the fellowship, 82 graduates (80%) presented research findings at regional or national meetings, 89 (86%) published peer-reviewed articles based on their fellowship work, 75 (73%) precepted residents or medical students in the ambulatory setting, and 67 (65%) taught medical students in the preclinical years. At the time of the survey, 100 graduates (97%) held academic appointments: 48 as clinician-investigators, 23 as clinician-administrators, 15 as clinician-educators, and 15 as clinicians.
Conclusion: Graduates of this research-intensive fellowship pursued academic careers with research, teaching, administration, and clinical activities. Directors of similar fellowship programs should prepare their graduates for all these activities.