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Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

Demographic profile of physician participants in short-term medical missions

Authors: Paul H. Caldron, Ann Impens, Milena Pavlova, Wim Groot

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

The US is the leading sending country for short term medical missions (STMMs), an unregulated and unsanctioned, grass roots form of direct medical service aid from richer countries to low and middle income countries. The objective of this study is to profile US physicians who go on such missions by means of a survey sample of the US physician population.

Methods

An online survey solicited information on physician participation in STMMS as well as demographic and professional features. Responses were descriptively tabulated and multivariate regressions were performed to model for physician profiles related to STMM participation.

Results

Physician participants in STMMs are more likely to be a surgeon, anesthesiologist or pediatrician, married with few or no children at home, later in their career and have an income of $200–250 K.

Conclusions

Specialty is the strongest predictor of participation. STMM participation does not differ by race, ethnicity nor religion. Descriptive statistics further provide a limited profile of participants. Direct expenses may have less influence on participation than opportunity costs. Potential clues about motivation that may be inferred from the features of the profile are discussed.
Appendix
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Footnotes
1
World Bank list of economies, February 2014, siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/CLASS.XLS
 
2
“US MD” refers to physicians who received their Doctor of Medicine degree from a U.S. allopathic medical school. “DO” refers to physicians who received a Doctor of Osteopathy degree from a US-sanctioned osteopathic medical school. International medical graduate (IMG) refers to an individual with an MD or equivalent degree who graduated from a medical school outside the United States and its territories or Canada, including U.S. citizens who have attended such medical schools abroad. To be eligible for licensure and practice in the United States, all IMGs must have completed accredited graduate training in the United States.
 
3
American Medical Association (AMA) 2011 Physician Master File (data as of Dec. 31, 2010).
 
4
The Northeast includes nine states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania; the Midwest region includes twelve states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin; the Southern region includes sixteen states: Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas; the Western region of the United States includes thirteen states: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon California, Alaska and Hawaii.
 
5
PayScale Human Capital. Posted on September 16, 2011 at www.​physician-salary.​org, Accessed 18 July 2015.
 
6
Physician Compensation and Production 2012 Report Cased on 2011 Data. Medical Group Management Association Datadrive Accessed 18 July 2015
 
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Metadata
Title
Demographic profile of physician participants in short-term medical missions
Authors
Paul H. Caldron
Ann Impens
Milena Pavlova
Wim Groot
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1929-x

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