A survey of residency management training: General preventive medicine graduates

General preventive medicine residents at the University of Arizona are introduced to management skills and issues during graduate medical training to prepare them for future administrative positions. Our objectives were to learn whether administration training was effective and if acquired skills are useful in present job duties of graduates. We mailed a questionnaire to former general preventive medicine residents who had graduated between 1983 and 1992. Twenty-one (81.8%) of the 26 graduates returned a completed questionnaire rating the extent to which certain training activities improved administration skills and assessing the extent to which residency training overall prepared them for administrative work. Ratings reflected adequate preparation and usefulness of skills on the job. The survey indicates that administrative training should begin during residency years and that a variety of short-term and long-term activities organized throughout both academic and practicum years can produce reasonable success in graduates.