Professional careers of 258 graduates of a 'fifth pathway' program.

Two hundred fifty-eight graduates (80%) of a fifth pathway program provided information about their professional careers. Fifty-nine percent practice primary care medicine, 25% are surgeons, and 16% are in support services such as psychiatry and radiology. Fifty-four percent are board certified, many of whom are doubly-board certified and some of whom hold prestigious academic positions. We conclude that properly educated fifth pathway graduates can become productive and respected members of the medical profession and contribute significantly to meeting the health-care needs of the patients and communities they serve.

Specialty choices and board certifications of 'fifth pathway' graduates.

We studied the specialty choices and board certification status of 258 graduates over a ten-year period of a single "fifth pathway" program. Not including obstetrics and gynecology as a primary care specialty, 54% of our graduates chose primary care specialties. Including obstetrics and gynecology, the number increased to 63%. Thirty-five of 158 graduates through 1978 are specialty board certified and another 49 are board eligible. We believe that our program has fulfilled the need of assisting Americans studying medicine abroad, primarily in Mexico, to overcome their clinical deficits and become integrated into the mainstream of American medicine. The future role of fifth pathway programs must be reevaluated in light of the 1980 Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee report, which concluded that by 1990, there will be an overabundance of physicians in the United States.