Purpose: Previous studies have shown that research can be used as a predictive factor for an academic career for physicians in the fields of radiation oncology, orthopedic surgery, and diagnostic radiology. We seek to determine if this factor is predictive for all medical specialties based on an analysis of public data on physicians who have trained at Hershey Medical Center (HMC) and public National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) charting outcomes. Methods: We determined the location and job title of all graduates of HMC residency training programs through a combination of publicly available information on HMC's website and other institutions' websites. We separated these into academic and non-academic positions and performed Chi-square analysis to determine if the number of research experiences was predictive of an academic career. Results: Participating in the residency specialties of general surgery, pathology, internal medicine, and neurological surgery are statistically significant predictors of an academic career upon graduation. The average number of research experiences obtained by matched U.S. medical students is not a statistically significant predictor of an academic career upon graduation. Conclusion: In contrast to previously published studies, a higher number of research experiences in medical school is not a significant predictor of an academic career for attending physicians who graduated residency at HMC.

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This study analyzes in-state retention rates at Penn State University (PSU) and nationally. Data were taken from the PSU handbook with location information of graduated residents and compared to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The retention rate at PSU was lower than that nationally in all but three specialties. PSU retention rate was lower than that of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's retention rate was lower than the national average. Community size and physician per capita may play a role in graduating resident retention rate.