Factors influencing program selection among family practice residents

Factors on which family practice residents base their judgments about ranking programs are identified. Questionnaires were mailed to 1,810 first-year family practice residents who participated in the 1981 matching program; 830 (46 percent) responded. The questionnaire items were factor analyzed, and nine factors accounting for 59.4 percent of the variance emerged. Reliability for the questionnaire was estimated to be .82 using coefficient alpha. Factor scores for the nine subscales were computed and employed as dependent variables in several multivariate analyses of variance. Significant differences for sex, age, race, and geographical region were found on various factors; these findings indicated differences in what those groups considered important when selecting a residency.