An international career development survey of critical care practitioners*

Abstract

Objectives: To understand the career development needs of an international multidisciplinary group of critical care practitioners in the 21st century.

Design: A web-accessible survey deployed by the In-Training Section of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Setting: University health sciences center.

Subjects: Physicians (doctor of medicine and doctor of osteopathic medicine), advance practice providers (nurse practitioner, physician assistant, nurses, pharmacists, and student members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Interventions: The survey covered domains of demographics, opinions about career development, and opinions about the Society of Critical Care Medicine In-Training Section.

Measurements and main results: One thousand forty-nine of approximately 16,000 Society of Critical Care Medicine members responded to the survey (7% response rate). Continuing education (280, 26.7%), leadership skills (197, 18.8%), and scientific development (192, 18.3%) are among the most important issues for the respondents. Many critical care practitioners would like to assist Society of Critical Care Medicine's efforts in career development (948, 90.4%) and many would consider some aspect of committee involvement (796, 75.9%). The Society of Critical Care Medicine In-Training Section, whose primary mission is career development across the spectrum of providers and expertise levels, needs improved advertisement (981, 93.7%). There is strong support for upcoming Annual Congresses dedicated to career development (834, 79.5%). Of the three main methods of information dissemination for Society of Critical Care Medicine career development initiatives from the In-Training Section, respondents rank e-mail highest (762, 72.6%), followed by webpages (228, 21.7%) and I-rooms (59, 5.6%). Over half of the Society of Critical Care Medicine membership surveyed lack a career development mentor in critical care.

Conclusions: This is the largest assessment of the international critical care community regarding the career development needs of 21st century critical care practitioner although the limited response rate makes this work prone to sampling bias. Career development issues are broad and in need of further development by the Society of Critical Care Medicine In-Training Section. Although these initiatives need improved marketing, the Society of Critical Care Medicine membership is willing to help support them and work to further shape them in the future.